Governor Evers’ recently released Executive Budget proposes (pp. 139-40) a doubling of funds for County Land Information Offices (LIOs) and the Wisconsin Land Information Program (WLIP) at the Department of Administration (DOA).
Currently, counties collect fees from real property recordings through county Register of Deeds (ROD) Offices. The recording fee is currently $30, of which
- $15 is retained by the county for undesignated uses,
- an additional $8 is retained by the county to support DOA-approved countywide LIO plans, and
- $7 is remitted by the county to the DOA for the WLIP, where it is used primarily to fund a variety of grants to county LIOs, including a Base Budget grant up to $100,000 per year, a Training and Education grant up to $1000 per year, and Strategic Initiative grants.
If enacted as currently drafted, the Governor’s Budget would increase the ROD recording fee from $30 to $45. Of the additional $15,
- the county would retain $7 to support countywide LIO plans, and
- the WLIP would receive $8 to fund county grants.
At the Wisconsin Land Information Council meeting in Appleton today, WLIP Grant Administrator Peter Herreid indicated this scenario would result in increases to Base Budget grants (to $140,000), Training and Education grants (to $5,000), and Strategic Initiative grants.
The Governor’s Budget, 2025 Assembly Bill 50, specifies (p. 37) that the increase is to provide additional funding to county LIOs in light of increasing workloads due to 2023 Wisconsin Act 235 (the Judicial Privacy Law).
In 2024, counties retained approximately $6 million for LIO plans (the $8 portion retained by the counties), while almost $3 million was awarded to county LIOs through WLIP Base Budget grants, $720,000 through WLIP Strategic Initiative grants, and $72,000 through WLIP Training and Education Grants.
A similar proposal was made just over a year ago but not enacted into law.
The Governor’s proposal is not the final state budget, and the budget process will play out over the spring. WisconsinEye is providing detailed live coverage for those who are interested.