March/April 2025 Issue

Also in this issue: Immigration Enforcement: An Overview for Municipal Governments     |     US Supreme Court Imposes Limitations on “End Result” Provisions in NPDES Permits

Property Tax Excessive Assessment Claims

Liz Leonard | 04.16.25

Every year, property owners have the opportunity to challenge the property tax levied against their property. Many municipalities see regular challenges to property tax assessments, with some repeat challengers coming back year after year. Other municipalities may go some time without a local property owner making a challenge. In either case, when a challenge arises, it is important to be aware that Wisconsin lays out specific rules for how the challenger must bring property assessment claims. A misstep in following the prescribed process may provide for an opportunity to quickly dispose of a meritless challenge.

There are primarily two kinds of challenges that property owners may bring related to their property tax assessment: (1) a challenge that the property tax amounts to an unlawful tax because of an error made in the assessment, including challenges that the property is exempt from taxation, or (2) a challenge that the property tax assessment is excessive. These categories of challenges follow different statutory procedures, each with their own requirements and limitations. This article will focus on excessive assessment claims — claims that the assessor placed too high a value on the subject property.

A claim that an assessment is excessive must be brought in front of the Board of Review as specified in Wis. Stat. § 70.47. After the Board of Review process is complete, the challenger may either file a certiorari claim at the circuit court (which limits the court’s review to the record made at the Board of Review) or bring a claim for excessive assessment under Wis. Stat. § 74.37. A claim under § 74.37 must be made in writing and served upon the clerk of the taxation district or the county. The taxation district or county then has 90 days to either allow or disallow the claim. If the claim is disallowed in whole or in part, the claimant has 90 days to file a claim at the circuit court.

Although many municipalities are well equipped to handle a challenge regarding an excessive assessment at the Board of Review stage, if either a certiorari claim or a Wis. Stat. § 74.37 claim is filed it is probably best to seek specialized legal advice. Be sure to check with your insurer as you may have coverage to defend against these suits.

When a court reviews a claim that an assessment is excessive, it affords the assessment a presumption of correctness. This means that the challenging party has to clear a high bar to show that the assessment was incorrect. A challenger may do this by showing the assessor did not correctly apply the Wisconsin Property Tax Assessment Manual or other Wisconsin law or by presenting significant contrary evidence to the court.

The Wisconsin Property Tax Assessment Manual lays out the assessor’s process, including the assessor’s duty to value the best use of the subject property and details a best evidence rule which has become known as the ​“Markarian hierarchy.” The Markarian hierarchy sets out three tiers of evidence an assessor may consider if available. Tier 1 is evidence of a recent arm’s‑length sale of the subject property. Tier 2 is evidence of recent arm’s‑length sales of reasonably comparable properties. And Tier 3 is any other evidence relevant to the value of the property, usually including information regarding the property’s income potential or the cost to replace the property taking depreciation into consideration. Many challengers will improperly attempt to introduce Tier 3 evidence to counter the assessor’s conclusions when the assessor relied on Tier 1 or Tier 2 evidence. Under the Markarian hierarchy, Tier 3 evidence should not be sufficient to overcome the presumption of correctness on an assessment correctly based on Tier 1 or Tier 2 evidence.

Although a challenger faces many hurdles in bringing an excessive assessment claim, such a claim can still be costly and time consuming for the municipality to defend. Experienced legal experts can help municipalities navigate this complicated process when it arises and provide early advice on when to fight and when to settle.