2026 League Civic Connection

An optional pre-conference session designed for those newer to municipal government. Details to come.

Kick off the conference with colleagues over food and drinks before the full program begins.

Speaker and topic to be announced.

Tax Incremental Financing can be a powerful tool for supporting development, infrastructure, and community revitalization, but municipal leaders need a clear understanding of how it works and when it is appropriate to use. This session will explain how a tax incremental district is created, how tax increment is generated, what costs may be supported, and how TIF decisions affect the municipality over time. Attendees will also examine the key roles, decision points, and risks involved so they can participate more confidently in TIF discussions and evaluate proposed projects with greater clarity.

Housing projects rarely move forward with a single source of funding. They require municipalities, developers, and partners to combine grants, loans, tax credits, local incentives, and other resources into a workable capital stack. In this practitioner-led session, panelists will share how they assembled financing for real housing developments, where they found overlooked or unconventional funding sources, and how they closed the gaps when the numbers did not initially work. Attendees will leave with a practical understanding of how to identify resources, structure partnerships, and build a financing strategy that can move a housing project from concept to completion.

This session provides an introduction to the fundamentals of municipal budgeting and financial reporting. Participants will gain an understanding of the budget development process, key legal and financial requirements, fund accounting concepts, and how budgets connect to financial statements. The presentation also covers best practices for monitoring financial performance throughout the year, communicating results to elected officials and stakeholders, and using financial reports as a tool for sound decision-making, transparency, and long-term fiscal sustainability.

Learn how municipal leaders can put AI to work in day-to-day operations. This session will explore where AI can save staff time, improve internal processes, and support better service to residents. Attendees will also learn how to choose the right uses, set clear expectations, and introduce AI in ways that protect accountability and public trust.

A facilitated peer discussion for administrators and elected officials from small communities. Details to come.

A facilitated peer discussion for administrators and elected officials from medium-sized communities. Details to come.

A facilitated peer discussion for administrators and elected officials from large communities. Details to come.

Speaker and topic to be announced. Followed by the annual business meeting.

Explore exhibitor booths featuring products and services for Wisconsin municipalities. Short Solution Sessions throughout the afternoon let exhibitors dive deeper into their offerings.

A relaxed close to Thursday's program held in the exhibit hall with networking drinks and appetizers.

Building Public Trust in the Digital Age. Speaker to be announced.

Most TIF incentives go to large projects, leaving small scale developers and smaller projects high and dry. The City of Waupaca tried a different approach, injecting $1M of TIF incentives into 60 downtown projects, leveraging another $3M in private investment. Join us to learn how Waupaca set up and managed the program, and what impact it had. Speakers will discuss how to build support for this type of program in your downtown.

The City of Racine has successfully created four TIDs in specific neighborhoods for owner occupants to receive $10,000 grants for home repairs. It has proven to be an effective tool in getting homes up to code, reducing blight, increasing home values, and reducing crime.

The model for funding Wisconsin cities and villages is unsustainable. Wisconsin relies on property taxes to fund local governments more than most other states, and with levy growth significantly restricted for the past 21 years, the risk of relying too heavily on a single funding source is being felt every day by municipal leaders. This session will examine the municipal funding history that has led us here, how Wisconsin compares to other states, how Act 12 helped grow state aid but did not fully address municipal funding challenges, and what today's municipal leaders can do to promote a better funding future.

Learn practical ways to use AI to draft, revise, and strengthen your writing while preserving your voice. This session will also examine the word choices, sentence structures, and recurring patterns that often signal AI-generated content, along with strategies for making the final product clear, natural, and distinctly yours.

With great power comes great responsibility. Join Ehlers' advisors as they go beyond the basics to expand your knowledge of tax incremental financing (TIF) and show you how to harness its power while effectively balancing community needs against development incentives. This session will focus on the entire TIF process: from assessing the need for public assistance via pro forma analysis, to creation, management, and compliance.

Successful development begins before a project is proposed. Municipalities that understand their strengths, communicate a clear vision, and establish predictable, efficient processes are better positioned to attract investment. This session marries municipal and development perspectives to examine what makes a community an attractive development partner. Presenters will share practical strategies for aligning development goals with community priorities, improving communication, and establishing an effective approval process. Attendees will leave with a clearer understanding of how municipalities can create the conditions for responsible growth while building partnerships that deliver lasting value for the community.

Balancing the budget is only the beginning. This session explores practical tools and decision-making frameworks municipal leaders can use to navigate fiscal challenges, evaluate tradeoffs, and make informed financial decisions. Attendees will leave with strategies they can immediately apply to budgeting, capital planning, and communicating financial choices.

Put your knowledge of local government to the test through an interactive series of fact-or-fiction questions covering common myths and misconceptions. Strengthen your grasp of the fundamentals that elected officials need before taking on innovative ideas and approaches.

Public trust is an essential, yet sometimes overlooked, element of your community's economic development and housing strategies. Ignoring the public can sometimes even create a backlash that will cripple community development efforts for years. Panelists will discuss strategies for building and maintaining that all-important connection with your citizens.

Wisconsin's TIF extension authority offers municipalities a valuable opportunity to generate additional resources for housing initiatives. This session will explain how the extension process works, outline key statutory requirements, and highlight how communities are already using extension revenues to support local housing priorities. Whether you're considering an extension or simply want to understand the option, you'll leave with practical insights and real-world examples.

Larger municipal budgets are complex, but residents should still be able to understand where their tax dollars go. Using Green Bay's Property Tax Transparency Tool as an example, this session will explore how finance, communications, and technology staff can turn budget data into clear, accessible information that connects taxes to the services residents use every day. Attendees will see how better budget communication can address common misconceptions and strengthen public trust.

Innovation is not limited to technology or new programs. It also requires elected officials to rethink how they explain complex issues, listen across differences, and connect with constituents. This session explores a more personal, plain-English approach to communication that helps people understand both the message and the decisions behind it.

Speaker and topic to be announced. Conference concludes following lunch.