Property Tax - Look what's happened in other communities

Looks like I'm not the only one with a complaint.

Several residents of the Town of Monroe in Adams County filed a complaint in 1994 with the Wisconsin Department of Revenue alleging that property assessments in the Town were not in compliance with the law. After investigating the complaint, the department found that "inequities in assessment exist within and between the major classes of property," and that the overall assessment in the Town for 1994 was at 114% of market value. The department concluded that the 1994 assessment was not made in compliance with the law and "[t]hat the interests of all the taxpayers of the district will best be promoted by special supervision ... to the end that the assessment of the district shall thereafter be lawfully made." Accordingly, it ordered a supervised assessment of all taxable property in the Town. See Wis. Stat. §70.75(3) (1999-2000).

The department entered into a contract with Bowmar for it "to revalue the real and personal property in the Town." Following Bowmar's assessment for 1995, two residents of the Town again complained that their assessments were not in compliance with the law. They filed complaints against the Town in circuit court alleging that Bowmar under-assessed some parcels and over-assessed others. The taxpayers sought the recovery of excess taxes allegedly paid as a result of their over-assessments and they requested that another reassessment of town property be ordered. The circuit court concluded that Bowmar's 1995 assessment "was not performed in accordance with" the law, and it ordered the Town to conduct another reassessment in 1998 and to refund the excess taxes paid by the complaining parties.

The Town then commenced the present litigation against Bowmar, alleging claims of breach of contract and negligence for Bowmar's failure to accurately assess the parcels of land that had been declared overvalued. Both Bowmar and the Town moved for summary judgment. The circuit court granted the Town's motion. Bowmar appeals the ensuing judgment, which awarded the Town a total of $60,856.85 for the cost of the court ordered 1998 reassessment, the taxes the Town was ordered to refund, attorney fees it expended in the taxpayer litigation, a payment the Town had made to Bowmar for work in 1996, and costs. Bowmar appeals the judgment.