Delinquent taxpayers in Wisconsin are opening their mailboxes to find letters demanding payment of debts owed under penalty of public humiliation.

The state's Department of Revenue began mailing ultimatums Monday to taxpayers owing more than $25,000 in back-taxes, threatening to post their names on an Internet Web site if debt is not settled within 30 days.

A legislative measure passed as a provision in the 2005-2007 biennial budget, the "Website of Shame," authored by Rep. Frank Lasee, R-Bellevue, aims to humiliate delinquent taxpayers into paying up money owed to the state by publicly disclosing previously protected information.

"We're just hoping to shine the light of public humiliation a little bit," Lance Burri, a legislative aid for Lasee, said. "If you don't respond to the letter, your name is going to be put on the Internet."

According to Burri, in the past the amounts of taxes paid by law-abiding citizens was publicly accessible information while the debts owed by delinquent taxpayers were kept as private records.

Now delinquents' information, including the name, address and amount of debt owed, will be accessible to the public. The "Website of Shame," which is yet to be created, will showcase a complete list of all delinquent taxpayers in Wisconsin owing more than $25,000.

The website will be updated daily, and as stated by a fiscal estimate for the law, administrators will "remove any person [from the website] who has reached an agreement or compromise with the DOR."

According to DOR spokesperson Meredith Helgerson, there are currently 7,259 delinquent taxpayers in the state.

A separate Web page will be specially created for the 100 top delinquents owing the most money.

The "Website of Shame" was originally introduced last year as Assembly Bill 330. After being referred to the Joint Committee on Finance, where it was passed unanimously as a stand-alone motion, AB 330 was rolled into the 2005-2007 budget without receiving approval from the Legislature as an isolated initiative.

Wisconsin is not the first state to use shame as a weapon to reform delinquent taxpayers.

"We got this idea from states like Connecticut and Illinois." Burri said, adding both states reported significant success, with the state of Illinois collecting $60 million in the first three years of the measure's enactment.

Burri said although Illinois has since stopped keeping a website, the threat implicated by the warning letters has proven enough of a deterrent.

Additionally, while the Wisconsin DOR is legally required to comply with the "Website of Shame" provision, the institution views the measure as another means to collect overdue tax dollars.

An estimated $1.5 million is expected to be collected using the "Website of Shame" in its first year, according to the fiscal estimate.

"It's another tool for us to use to collect revenue that the department deems is owed," Helgerson said. "Individual and business taxpayers fulfill their tax obligation every day and it's unfair to all those that are following the law that we have those delinquent taxpayers."