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AB 698

Relating to: designating the hen-of-the-woods as the Wisconsin state mushroom.

2025-2026 Regular Session Introduced by Ryan Clancy and 4 co-sponsors

Requires cities to publish an analysis before adopting real property transfer taxes, detailing effects on affordable and market-rate housing and property tax revenues.

Read first time and referred to Committee on State Affairs
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WeVote Research Nonpartisan
Bill Summary · AB 698

Note on documents: The title in your header (designating the hen‑of‑the‑woods as the Wisconsin state mushroom) does not match the text supplied. The documents provided concern California AB 698 (Wicks) relating to local transfer taxes on real property. The summary below covers the bill text and legislative materials provided.

Summary — AB 698 (Wicks): Local transfer taxes — required analysis

Purpose / intent

AB 698 requires city legislative bodies to prepare and publicly post an analysis before adopting any local transfer tax on the sale of real property. The intent is to ensure local decision‑makers and the public understand how a proposed transfer tax would affect housing production and property tax revenues and to treat those effects as matters of statewide concern (thus applying the rule to charter cities).

Key provisions

  • Adds Government Code Section 37100.6.
  • Before a city legislative body (explicitly including charter cities) adopts any transfer tax on real property sales, the city must:
    • Develop an analysis and post it on the city’s internet website.
    • The analysis must examine, at minimum, the proposed tax’s effect on:
    • The production of affordable housing, including affordable housing produced by market‑rate housing projects.
    • The production of market‑rate housing units.
    • Property tax revenue for the city, county, state, and any relevant special districts.
  • Includes legislative findings declaring that reductions in property tax receipts and the provision of adequate housing are matters of statewide concern, not solely municipal affairs, and therefore the statute applies to all cities, including charter cities.

Who would be affected

  • City legislative bodies (including charter cities) that consider adopting transfer taxes on real property transactions.
  • Local stakeholders: developers, housing advocates, local governments, counties, special districts, and taxpayers — because the mandated analysis must address housing production and property tax impacts.
  • State agencies indirectly, since analysis must consider statewide and countywide revenue effects.

Procedural / timeline notes

  • Introduced: February 14, 2025.
  • Status in provided materials: read first time and referred to Committee on State Affairs (per your header). Documents also show committee activity and amendment history (multiple Assembly committee actions and readings through June 2025 in the materials).
  • Digest metadata: majority vote, no appropriation, no referral to fiscal committee indicated.

Potential impacts / considerations

  • Increases transparency and information available before cities impose transfer taxes.
  • Could influence local policy choices if analyses show negative effects on housing production or property tax revenues.
  • May slow adoption of local transfer taxes due to the additional analytic requirement and posting requirement.
  • By declaring the matter of statewide concern, the bill seeks to preempt arguments that charter cities are exempt.

If you want, I can:
- Draft suggested elements for the required analysis template a city could use; or
- Produce a short checklist cities could follow to comply with Section 37100.6.

Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.

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