Wisconsin Code § 229.27

Municipal theater
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(1) Any city of the 1st class
may, in addition to all other powers conferred upon it, establish
and maintain a municipal theater hereinafter termed “theater”,
for the purpose of providing a community facility to further the
advancement of the performing arts and other related purposes of
a public nature which are hereby declared to be public purposes.
(2) An independent board shall be designated by the local
governing body as the “(City) Theater Board”. The board shall
be composed of the number of members as provided for by resolution adopted by the local governing body of the city. The local
governing body shall prescribe the terms of members of the
board. Members shall be appointed by the mayor and confirmed
by the local governing body.
(3) The board shall have complete and autonomous control of
the building, maintenance, supervision and operation of the theater; and shall regulate, control and designate the use thereof.
The board shall also fix the terms and conditions for use of the
theater and do all things necessary for the maintenance and oper-

ation thereof and shall handle all finances of the theater. The
board shall also contract or otherwise provide for personnel and
other services and rentals necessary for the operation of the facility. The board may sue and be sued.
(4) (a) Title to all property, real or personal, of the theater
may be in the name of the city and may be held by the city perpetually for such purposes, but the board shall determine the use to
which the property shall be devoted under this section.
(b) Subject to the approval of the local governing body of the
city, the board may enter into a transfer agreement with another
person to provide the terms and conditions upon which the board
may transfer any of the city’s interests in an existing theater. A
transfer may take the form of a sale, lease or other conveyance
and may be with or without financial consideration, except that if
the transfer is made to a private, for-profit entity, the transfer shall
be for fair market financial consideration. A transfer agreement
shall require the transferee to accept an assignment of all contracts with other persons, with respect to the transferred theater,
that are in force at the time of the transfer except that this provision does not apply to collective bargaining contracts.
(5) The local governing body of such city may appropriate
such sums as may be required to supplement revenues of the theater in order for the board to regulate, control and operate the theater. As in the judgment of such board shall be consistent and in
keeping with the general operation and public purposes of the
theater, the board may receive, hold and manage any devise, bequest, donation or loan for the establishment, increase or maintenance thereof, under such regulations and conditions as may be
prescribed pursuant to law or agreed upon by and between the
donors and the board.
(6) The local governing body may by resolution adopted by it
impose additional duties and responsibilities upon the board in
connection with the operation, maintenance and control of the
theater, however the board shall itself determine the manner in
which such operations shall be performed.
(7) In addition to all other powers of the board, the board may
hire and retain all personnel, or contract or designate responsibility for the supervision of the theater and the board shall determine the manner of selection of all of its employees, contracts or
designees. The board shall establish the compensation for its personnel. The board may enter into contracts on behalf of the board
without first obtaining approval of the local governing body of
the city, and such contracts may be entered into with respect to all
matters which relate to the operation, control and use of the theater as determined by the board.
(8) The board shall report annually or more frequently as the
local governing body so determines with respect to all receipts
and disbursements of the board, balances of the board’s funds
and all other matters which bear upon the board’s operations. Expenditures made by the board from funds under its control shall
not require the approval of the local governing body of the city.
(9) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, all
actions of the board may be reviewed, modified or nullified by
appropriate action of the local governing body.

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