ASSESSMENTS, PROPERTY VALUES
OPEN BOOK And The
BOARD OF REVIEW
Links are available to persons who wish to review a summary of the Property Record, Tax History or print a recent Tax Bill for any property in the Village.
Accurate Appraisal, LLC – the Village Assessor, to view Property Records
Tax bills are sent out by the Columbia County Treasurer. The Village of Poynette does not have tax amounts until after the bills are sent out. Tax bills are sent directly to the property owner unless the owner has made alternative arrangements with the County. Mortgage Companies will not receive tax bills unless a request form from the property owner is received from the County. The form can be found at www.co.columbia.wi.us
Columbia County Land Records Office – to view current or historical tax records, or to print off a copy of current tax bill.
Many people are confused by the process by which an assessment becomes a tax. There is a regular cycle to it that is mandated by state law..
ASSESSMENT
- is your property’s value as of January 1st of the Tax Year.
- is mailed to you (if it was changed that year) in spring
- is followed a couple of weeks later by Open Book, which is the landowner’s opportunity to review the Village’s Assessment Rolls, and to discuss their Assessment directly with the Assessor. It is a property owner’s best opportunity to adjust the Assessment.
- Finally, a Board of Review is held to hear the cases of property owners who object to their Assessments. (for more discussion, see Board of Review, below). Board of Review is normally held in June, but is sometimes later due to late preparation of the Assessment Rolls. This is the LAST TIME a property owner’s Assessment can be changed for the year.
- The Assessment converts to a Tax in November after the Village Board approves the budget for the next year. Assessments CANNOT be adjusted during tax-collection season.
The ASSESSMENT is a valuation of your property, adjusted (usually downward), to correspond to the Assessment Ratio (or Aggregate Ratio). We have just completed a complete physical re-valuation of the entire Village (in 2006), and the Assessment Ratio should be around 100%. So, your Assessment should be very close to its Fair Market Value – a recent appraisal or sale price of your property. As time passes and inflation increases the value of most property, your Assessment will be the same, but the Assessment Ratio will gradually fall below 100%. New properties will be assessed at their fair market value adjusted to be roughly equivalent to existing properties by multiplying the fair market value by the Village’s Assessment Ratio for the year to get an adjustment (normally lower) to its Assessed Valuation.
- Buildings that are constructed during the Tax Year will be Assessed (and later taxed) as an empty lot the first year.
- Buildings that are under construction on January 1 will be Assessed at the estimated value if sold as-is on January 1.
- Conversely, buildings that burn down later in the year will continue to be taxed at full value the first year, but should be reduced or eliminated after the Tax Year in which they were destroyed.
The Assessment Ratio is determined by the Wisconsin Department of Revenue, and the Village has no control over it.
Fair Market Value (Equalized Valuation). I use the term here as it appears on tax bills. Fair Market Value in this context is the Assessment divided by the Assessment Ratio. This number is meant to compare values among various communities to create apples-to-apples comparisons of total valuation of the community. It does not really represent a value at sale of the property when the Assessment Ratio is significantly below 100%, since different properties appreciate in value at different rates. And this ratio is applied equally to all properties in the community.
BOARD OF REVIEW
People often feel that the assessment values that determine the level of property taxes on their homes are not correct – usually too high. Unfortunately, they usually take their concerns to the village staff in December and January when taxes are being collected. Nothing can be done about property assessments, even errors, once the tax roll is finalized.
Open Book and Board of Review are the property owner’s opportunities to influence the assessed value of their property, and the taxes that will later be levied based upon that value. Property is assessed, and assessments are adjusted, in the spring and early summer of the year. They represent the value of your property as of January 1 of the year. Notices of Change (in assessed value) will be mailed to property owners in spring of any year that their Assessment has been adjusted either up or down.
The first step for those with questions is called Open Book. During Open Book property owners may review the assessment rolls, ask questions of the Assessor or challenge an assessment level. They should bring any documents or information they have that supports their argument if they feel the current assessment is incorrect. The Assessor can and often does make adjustments on the spot, or can make arrangements to view the property with the owner to consider adjustments. Open Book is officially noticed in the Poynette Press and is posted on Village announcement boards at the Village Hall and Post Office.
Once the new Property Roll is received from the Assessor by the Village, it can be reviewed in the Village Hall at any time during normal office hours.
Property owners who try to get adjustments through the Open Book process and are not satisfied with the results may appeal their cases to the Board of Review. The Board of Review can adjust property values either up or down depending on the evidence submitted to it. Property owners must sign up at least 48 hours in advance and then present evidence in writing to support their claims. At the Board of Review property owners must present verbal argument, supported by documentary evidence, to support the value they wish to have applied to their property.
Owners must be aware that an objection to an assessment does not guarantee that they will get the reduction they are looking for. In order to benefit they must do their homework. By law, the Board of Review process begins with the assumption that the Assessor is correct. Owners must present written evidence that the Assessor either did not have pertinent information or made an error. The written submission must include the owner’s estimate of the correct value of the land and buildings combined. The Board of Review cannot negotiate a value.
Some basic methods that can be used to support a homeowners’ arguments are: compare the assessment of the property to similar, nearby properties; show that there has been a change made to the property that the assessor is unaware of; or show there are factors the assessor has not taken into consideration that materially affect the value of property.
The Board of Review cannot take into consideration the owners’ financial situation, taxes or what they can afford to pay. Only the value of the property itself can affect the outcome.
Forms and pamphlets explaining property owners’ rights are normally available in village offices, and property owners with questions may call the Village Hall at 635-2122. Or, if you wish, documents, informational pamphlets and FAQ (frequently asked questions) can be read or downloaded from the Wisconsin Department of Revenue web site. Go to the ‘Property Owners’ area. Especially useful are the Property Owner Guide and Property Assessment Appeal Guide for Wisconsin Real Property Owners. A good starting point to locate them is (select link; right click mouse; select ‘open hyperlink’):
www.dor.state.wi.us/html/local.html#prop
PROPERTY TAXES / MILL RATE
Contrary to the beliefs of most people, the Village Board doesn’t just get together and decide how much they can extort without getting run out of town.
The Village Budget is determined over a five-month process from July to November, when it is passed.
The Budget contains a description of both the Village’s dollar needs to provide services and its sources and amounts of revenue to meet those needs. Once all non-tax revenues are estimated, the amount is subtracted from total needs to reach the LEVY amount. The Levy is the amount which must be collected through Property Taxes. That amount must be spread to individual property owners proportionately to Assessed Values as the Property Tax.
The TAX RATE is the factor used to determine the Property Tax for any property in the Village and is determined by dividing the Levy by the Total Property Assessment for the Village. This results in a value with a lot of numbers (8) past the decimal point, and is the Tax Rate. It looks something like this: .009875432. The Assessed Valuation of any property is multiplied times the Tax Rate to equal the Local Property Tax.
However, it’s hard to talk about a rate that reads “nine million, eight hundred seventy five thousand...(and so on)... billionths of a dollar.” Well, you get the picture.
The MILL RATE, which is the number mostly used when discussing taxes, is the Tax Rate multiplied by one thousand and rounded to a comfortable number to represent a rate per thousand dollars of taxable property. The one for the example above would be shown as 9.88 mills, and is a lot easier to picture and discuss than the Tax Rate. | 
