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Waukesha council approves higher municipal bond schedule, debates larger code penalty ranges
Summary
Council unanimously approved an amended municipal-court bond schedule that raises several base forfeitures (including increasing a dog-in-park base from $5 to $10). Members debated proposed code amendments that would widen penalty ranges, with opponents warning of disproportionate impacts on low-income residents.
Waukesha City Attorney Brian said the common council on Tuesday approved updates to the municipal-court bond schedule that raise base forfeiture amounts for certain municipal citations and align the schedule with proposed changes to related code sections. The council voted unanimously to adopt the bond schedule, including a change to raise the base forfeiture for a dog-in-public-park offense from $5 to $10 (resulting in a $73.60 total after statutorily required surcharges).
The action implements figures that municipal judges use as settlement amounts on citations; Brian explained the judge retains discretion in contested cases but the council must authorize the ranges the judge can apply. "The judge gets to set the forfeitures in any municipal case," Brian said, describing the bond schedule as the set of amounts a defendant can pay to settle a municipal citation without contesting it.
Councilmembers then discussed a separate but related second-reading ordinance to amend municipal code sections 11.01 and 2.505 to increase penalty ranges for first and subsequent offenses. Brian recommended an amendment to the draft to set the lower bound for some first-offense fines at $10 so the ordinance coordinates with the bond schedule. Several council members supported the change as a way to bring Waukesha in line with neighboring communities and to give the municipal judge discretion to impose higher penalties where appropriate.
Opponents cautioned about the impact on low-income residents. One councilmember warned that raising forfeitures ‘‘will disproportionately affect those in the lower economic class’’ and described the potential for fines to become liens or to jeopardize employment in cases where imprisonment for repeated unpaid penalties could follow. The council did not act to adopt the code amendments on final passage; the ordinance remains at second reading and will return for further consideration.
What happens next: The bond schedule is in effect as approved; the code amendments will come back for the required third reading and final vote at a future meeting, at which time the council may adopt Brian’s suggested $10 lower bound or other amendments.
