SHIRLEY S. ABRAHAMSON, C.J. This is a review of a published decision of the court of appeals, Aiello v. Village of Pleasant Prairie, 196 Wis.2d 972, 540 N.W.2d 236 (Ct.App. 1995), affirming an order of the circuit court for Kenosha County, Michael S. Fisher, Judge. The circuit court dismissed the appeal of property owners Mary Aiello and Marcia and Robert Styles from the special assessment of the Village of Pleasant Prairie for installation of municipal water and sewer services. The sole question of law presented in the circuit court, court of appeals and this court is whether the circuit court may proceed to hear an appeal from the Village's special assessment when the property owners, instead of executing a bond in accordance with the text of Wis. Stat. § 66.60(12)(a) (1993-94), posted a cash deposit.
We agree. We said in Aiello v. Village of Pleasant Prairie, 196 Wis.2d 972, 976, 540 N.W.2d 236, 238 (Ct.App. 1995), rev'd on other grounds, 206 Wis.2d 67, 556 N.W.2d 697 (1996), that parties must strictly comply with § 66.60(12)(a), STATS., which establishes a 90-day limit for commencing an appeal of an assessment in the circuit court. We said that the policy consideration behind this rule is to "`maintain a simple, ordinary and uniform way of conducting legal business in our courts.