75.07 Redemption notices; publication.
(1) Each county treasurer shall, at least 6 and not more than 10 months before the expiration of the time for redeeming lands subject to a tax certificate, except lands subject to s. 75.521 that are located in a city authorized to proceed under s. 74.87, cause to be published as a class 2 notice, under ch. 985, in the county in which the lands are located, a list of all unredeemed lands, specifying each tract or lot, the name of the person to whom assessed, if any, and the amount of taxes, charges and interest, calculated to the last day of redemption, due on each parcel, together with a notice that unless such lands are redeemed on or before the last day of redemption, which shall be specified, they will be conveyed to the county. The county treasurer, for the purpose of such list, may condense such descriptions when such condensed description will reasonably describe the premises.
(2)
(a) Before publishing such list such treasurer shall carefully compare the same with the tax certificate describing the lands to be included in the list to be published. If upon such examination there be found any omission or erroneous description in the tax certificate, such parcel of land in the description of which the omission or error shall occur shall not be advertised for redemption, but shall be deleted from the tax certificate in which it was originally included and placed in the next-issued tax certificate.
(b) If the number of the description in the lists of lands to be advertised for redemption by the county treasurer shall exceed 3,000, the treasurer shall then let by contract the publication of such list to the lowest bidder upon a notice, written or printed, to be delivered to and left with the publisher or one of the publishers of each newspaper printed as aforesaid, at least 10 days prior to the time at which such contract shall be let.
(c) Any county treasurer who shall willfully refuse or neglect to perform any duty required by this section or who shall keep back and not report any unredeemed lands for the purpose of evading its provisions shall forfeit the full amount of the penalty of the treasurer's official bond, one half of which, when collected, shall be paid to the person prosecuting therefor and the residue into the treasury of the state for the use of the school fund; provided further, that no county treasurer shall be liable to any penalty for causing such publication to be made in a weekly newspaper published in such county for the length of time hereinbefore named prior to the date of the treasurer's notice, when by reason of accident or other cause more than one week has intervened between the dates of the actual issue of such newspaper to subscribers, if such delay at any one time shall not have exceeded 3 days; but every such newspaper, for the purpose of this section shall be deemed to have been regularly published once in each week as hereinbefore provided.
History: 1987 a. 378.
Sub. (1) requiring publication of a redemption notice prior to the expiration of the time to redeem lands sold for taxes is directory only; failure to include in such publication the name of the person to whom the taxes were assessed does not invalidate a subsequent tax deed. 63 Atty. Gen. 116.
In publishing redemption notices for tax delinquent lands under sub. (1), a county treasurer is not authorized to omit the names of persons to whom such property was last assessed. 63 Atty. Gen. 118.