On behalf of WMC, the WMC Litigation Center filed this lawsuit in April 2022 to challenge the Village of Pewaukee’s so-called “transportation utility fee” or TUF, which Pewaukee imposed on all property owners to pay for road repair throughout the village. The Waukesha County Circuit Court upheld the TUF, but the Wisconsin Court of Appeals unanimously reversed the circuit court in March 2024. The court of appeals ruled that the TUF is an “impermissible tax.” Pewaukee subsequently filed a petition for review, but the Wisconsin Supreme Court declined to hear the case.
In November 2024, the Litigation Center filed a motion asking the circuit court to hold Pewaukee in contempt for continuing to impose the TUF for several months after the court of appeals struck the TUF down. The contempt motion asks the circuit court to order Pewaukee to reimburse all its taxpayers for the TUF money that they paid to the village since the court of appeals’ decision in March 2024. This contempt motion is in briefing, with a hearing scheduled for February 14, 2025.
