74.39 Court-ordered reassessment.
(1) Court may order. Except as provided in sub. (3), in any action under s. 74.35 (3) or 74.37 (3), if the court determines that a reassessment of the property upon which the taxes were paid is necessary, the court, before entering judgment, shall continue the action to permit reassessment of the property. If, based on the reassessment, the court determines that the amount of taxes paid by the plaintiff is not excessive, judgment shall be entered for the defendant. If, based on the reassessment, the court determines that the amount of taxes paid by the plaintiff is excessive, judgment shall be entered for the plaintiff for the amount of the excessive taxes paid.
(2) Challenge of reassessment. The validity of a reassessment under sub. (1) may be challenged under s. 75.54. A reassessment under s. 75.54 shall be made by the assessor of the assessment district in which the property to be reassessed is located.
(3) Exception. The court may proceed to judgment without ordering a reassessment under sub. (1), if the court finds that to do so is in the best interests of all parties to the action and if the court is able to determine the amount of unlawful taxes with reasonable certainty.
History: 1987 a. 378.
When a court finds an assessment excessive, under sub. (3) it must order a reassessment unless it finds that: 1) proceeding to judgment is in the parties' best interests; and 2) the court is able to determine the amount of unlawful taxes with reasonable certainty. In this case, the circuit court made both of these findings but failed to explain the reasoning behind its decision. When a circuit court fails to explain its reasoning, the appellate court may search the record to determine whether it supports the court's discretionary decision. West Capitol, Inc. v. Village of Sister Bay, 2014 WI App 52, 354 Wis. 2d 130, 848 N.W.2d 875, 13-1458.