70.57 Assessment of counties and taxation districts by department.
(1)
(a) The department of revenue before August 15 of each year shall complete the valuation of the property of each county and taxation district of the state. From all the sources of information accessible to it the department shall determine and assess by class the value of all property subject to general property taxation in each county and taxation district. If the department is satisfied that the assessment by a county assessor under s. 70.99 is at full value, it may adopt that value as the state's full value.
(b) The department shall set down a list of all the counties and taxation districts and opposite to the name of each county and taxation district the valuation determined by the department, which shall be the full value according to its best judgment.
(c) There shall also be prepared a list of all the counties of the state with the valuation determined for each county listed opposite the name of the county. The list shall be certified by the secretary of revenue as the assessment of the counties of the state made by the department and be delivered to the department of administration.
(d) In any case where the department, through mistake or inadvertence, has assessed to any county or taxation district, in the current year or in the previous year, a greater or less valuation for any year than should have been assessed, it shall correct the error. The department shall add or subtract, as the case may be, from the valuation of the county or taxation district, as determined by the department at the assessment in the year after the error is discovered, the amount omitted from or added to the true valuation of the county in the former assessment in consequence of the error. The result shall be taken as the full value of the county for the latter year and a final correction of the error.
(1b) On or before August 1 of each year, the department of revenue shall publish on its Internet site for each county and taxation district a preliminary determination of its equalized value, tax incremental finance district values as provided under s. 66.1105 (5) (g) and (6), and net new construction value as provided under ss. 66.0602 and 79.05. If a county or taxation district discovers a clerical, arithmetic, transpositional, or similar error in the department's determination that would result in the overvaluation or undervaluation of the property located in the county or taxation district, the county or taxation district shall notify the department of the error no later than August 7. The department shall correct, as provided in sub. (1) (d), any error reported and verified by the department under this subsection that results in an overvaluation or undervaluation of the property located in the taxation district greater than 2 percent. The correction shall be reflected in the equalized value provided to the county or taxation district under sub. (1m), except that amended assessment reports filed after the 2nd Monday in June shall not be subject to correction by the department as provided in this subsection.
(1m) On August 15 the department of revenue shall notify each county and taxation district of its equalized value. The department of revenue shall make available to each taxation district a list of sales within the taxation district and shall indicate whether or not those sales were used or rejected in establishing equalized value. If insufficient residential and agricultural sales in a taxation district require the department to use sales information from other taxation districts in establishing equalized value, the department shall so notify the affected taxation district and, upon written request from that taxation district, shall make available to the taxation district the sales information from other taxation districts and other information used to establish the equalized value. Upon resolution by the governing body of a county or taxation district, the department shall review the equalized value established for the county or taxation district.
(2)
(a) If the state board of assessors, the tax appeals commission or a court makes a final redetermination on the assessment of property subject to taxation under s. 70.995 that is higher or lower than the previous assessment, the department of revenue shall recertify the equalized value of the school district in which the property subject to taxation under s. 70.995 is located.
(b) If a court makes a final redetermination on the assessment of telephone company property subject to taxation under s. 70.112 (4) and subch. IV of ch. 76 that is lower than the previous assessment, the department of revenue shall recertify the equalized value of the school district in which such property is located.
(3)
(a) In determining the value of agricultural land under sub. (1), the department shall fulfill the requirements under s. 70.32 (2r).
(b) In determining the value under sub. (1) of agricultural forest land, as defined in s. 70.32 (2) (c) 1d., and undeveloped land, as defined in s. 70.32 (2) (c) 4., the department shall fulfill the requirements under s. 70.32 (4).
(4)
(a) From the appropriation under s. 20.566 (2) (b), the department shall provide payments to any taxation district that certifies to the department, in the manner prescribed by the department, that the most recent valuation of the taxation district's property under this section is greater than it should be because of a clerical, arithmetic, transpositional, or similar error made by the department, as confirmed by the department, and that the amount of the overvaluation represents 7.5 percent or more of the taxation district's valuation under this section in the year prior to the year in which the error occurred.
(b) If property tax bills for the assessment year in which the error relates have been distributed to property owners, the taxation district receiving payments under par. (a) shall use the payments to make loans to persons who own property located in the taxation district and who are paying more property taxes than they should be as a result of the error. A person may receive a loan by applying, in the manner prescribed by the department, to the taxation district in which the person's property is located no later than June 15 of the year following the error. The state shall collect the amount of any loan issued under this paragraph as a state special charge against the taxation district for the year after the year in which the error occurred and the special charge shall not be included in the taxation district's levy. The taxation district shall assess the loan amount as a special charge against the property for which the loan was made on the property tax bill succeeding the loan, as provided under ch. 74 and s. 66.0627 (1) (c). Except for interest and penalties, as provided under s. 74.47, that apply to any delinquent special charge based on the loan amount, neither the department nor the taxation district may charge interest on any loan issued under this paragraph. The maximum loan amount that a person may receive under this paragraph shall be calculated by multiplying the assessed value of the person's property by a decimal determined by the department as follows:
1. For the year in which the error occurred, apportion county, school district, technical college district, and metropolitan sewerage district property taxes to the taxation district using the taxation district's erroneous valuation.
2. For the year in which the error occurred, apportion county, school district, technical college district, and metropolitan sewerage district property taxes to the taxation district using the taxation district's correct valuation.
3. Subtract the amount determined under subd. 2. from the amount determined under subd. 1.
4. Divide the amount determined under subd. 3. by the taxation district's assessed value for the year in which the error occurred and express the result as a decimal.
(c) With regard to loans made under par. (b), the department shall make the payments under par. (a) monthly, based on the amounts requested in loan applications to the taxation district each month, except that the department shall make no payments to a taxation district after June 30 of the year following the year in which the error occurred.
(d) If property tax bills for the assessment year in which the error relates have not been distributed to property owners, the department may make one payment from the appropriation under s. 20.566 (2) (b) to the taxation district to reduce the property taxes that would otherwise be imposed as a result of the error. The department shall confirm the amount of the payment and provide guidance to the taxation district in allocating the amount to specific parcels. In the year following the error, the taxation district, with the guidance of the department, shall collect from property owners in the taxation district an amount equal to the amount of the payment and shall remit the amount collected to the department. The department may not charge interest for any payment under this paragraph. Notwithstanding s. 66.0602 or 79.05, payments under this paragraph in both the year the payment is made to the taxation district and the year the taxation district returns the payment to the department shall not be included in determining the taxation district's or the county's levy, or allowable levy under s. 66.0602, or in determining the taxation district's eligibility for, and calculation of payments, under s.79.05. Solely for purposes of relating annual revenue to estimated expenses, the amounts collected and remitted to the state under this paragraph shall be deemed accrued receipts as of the close of the fiscal year, but no revenue shall be deemed accrued receipts unless it is deposited by this state on or before August 31.
History: 1973 c. 90, 336; 1977 c. 29 ss. 761, 762, 1647 (12); 1977 c. 300 ss. 5, 8; 1981 c. 20; 1983 a. 372; 1985 a. 29, 54, 153, 246, 332, 399; 1991 a. 39; 1995 a. 27, 225; 2003 a. 33; 2007 a. 4; 2009 a. 11; 2011 a. 64; 2015 a. 321; 2017 a. 59.
“Taxation under s. 70.995" as used in sub. (2) means “assessment under s. 70.995". 73 Atty. Gen. 119.