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Casenotes

Wisconsin
Property Tax Assessments

Trailwood Ventures, LLC v Village of Kronenwetter, 762 NW2d 841, 2008 AP 1221 (Wis Ct App 2008)

Facts:Taxpayers Trailwood Ventures, LLC (Trailwood) and Alliance Holdings, LLC (Alliance) both owned property that fell under the taxing authority of the Village of Kronenwetter (Kronenwetter). In 2005, Kronenwetter assessed the value of Trailwood's lot at $765,000 and of Alliance's lot at $316,000. One year later, in 2006, Kronenwetter's assessor adjusted these values upwards and valued Trailwood's lot at $10,708,800 and Alliance's lot at $2,309,500. After an appeal to Kronenwetter's board of review, these values were reduced to $7,353,710 and $1,463,616 respectively.

The two companies paid the corresponding taxes and then filed a claim against Kronenwetter under Wisconsin Statutes Section 74.37 to recover the excess taxes they paid due to the allegedly erroneous assessment. Under Section 74.37, the court, if it finds it necessary, can order a reassessment of the property in order to determine the amount of excessive property taxes paid. The trial court found that reassessment was not necessary under the record and proceeded to vacate the board of review's assessment and reinstate the original 2006 assessment values. The companies appealed the trial court's decision under the theory that the court had exceeded its statutory authority in increasing their tax burden.

Holding:Reversed and remanded. Sections 74.37 and 74.39 allow only two findings: that the taxes were excessive or not excessive. Accordingly, the trial court exceeded its authority in finding the taxes to be deficient. The court held that the fact that a Section 74.37 claim requires the taxes to have been paid in full means that the taxing district has accepted the assessment as final. The court further found that the language and legislative history of Section 74.37 was meant only to provide a remedy to taxpayers for excessive property taxes. Finally, the court found that Section 74.39 provided only two possible remedies: refund of the overpayment if the court finds on behalf of the taxpayer or reaffirmation of the tax if it finds on behalf of the taxing district. Neither allows an increase in taxes. As a result, the trial courts have no statutory authority to increase property taxes when considering a Section 74.37 claim.

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[Last update: 6-11-09]