Wisconsin Code § 70.57

Assessment of counties and taxation districts by department
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(1) (a) The department of revenue before
August 15 of each year shall complete the valuation of the property of each county and taxation district of the state. From all the
sources of information accessible to it the department shall determine and assess by class the value of all property subject to gen-

eral property taxation in each county and taxation district. If the
department is satisfied that the assessment by a county assessor
under s. 70.99 is at full value, it may adopt that value as the state’s
full value.
(b) The department shall set down a list of all the counties and
taxation districts and opposite to the name of each county and
taxation district the valuation determined by the department,
which shall be the full value according to its best judgment.
(c) There shall also be prepared a list of all the counties of the
state with the valuation determined for each county listed opposite the name of the county. The list shall be certified by the secretary of revenue as the assessment of the counties of the state
made by the department and be delivered to the department of
administration.
(d) In any case where the department, through mistake or inadvertence, has assessed to any county or taxation district, in the
current year or in the previous year, a greater or less valuation for
any year than should have been assessed, it shall correct the error.
The department shall add or subtract, as the case may be, from
the valuation of the county or taxation district, as determined by
the department at the assessment in the year after the error is discovered, the amount omitted from or added to the true valuation
of the county in the former assessment in consequence of the error. The result shall be taken as the full value of the county for
the latter year and a final correction of the error.
(1b) On or before August 1 of each year, the department of
revenue shall publish on its Internet site for each county and taxation district a preliminary determination of its equalized value,
tax incremental finance district values as provided under s.
66.1105 (5) (g) and (6), and net new construction value as provided under ss. 66.0602 and 79.05. If a county or taxation district
discovers a clerical, arithmetic, transpositional, or similar error in
the department’s determination that would result in the overvaluation or undervaluation of the property located in the county or
taxation district, the county or taxation district shall notify the
department of the error no later than August 7. The department
shall correct, as provided in sub. (1) (d), any error reported and
verified by the department under this subsection that results in an
overvaluation or undervaluation of the property located in the
taxation district greater than 2 percent. The correction shall be
reflected in the equalized value provided to the county or taxation
district under sub. (1m), except that amended assessment reports
filed after the 2nd Monday in June shall not be subject to correction by the department as provided in this subsection.
(1m) On August 15 the department of revenue shall notify
each county and taxation district of its equalized value. The department of revenue shall make available to each taxation district
a list of sales within the taxation district and shall indicate
whether or not those sales were used or rejected in establishing
equalized value. If insufficient residential and agricultural sales
in a taxation district require the department to use sales information from other taxation districts in establishing equalized value,
the department shall so notify the affected taxation district and,
upon written request from that taxation district, shall make available to the taxation district the sales information from other taxation districts and other information used to establish the equalized value. Upon resolution by the governing body of a county or
taxation district, the department shall review the equalized value
established for the county or taxation district.
(2) (a) If the state board of assessors, the tax appeals commission or a court makes a final redetermination on the assessment of property subject to taxation under s. 70.995 that is higher
or lower than the previous assessment, the department of revenue
shall recertify the equalized value of the school district in which
the property subject to taxation under s. 70.995 is located.
(b) If a court makes a final redetermination on the assessment
of telephone company property subject to taxation under s.
70.112 (4) and subch. IV of ch. 76 that is lower than the previous
assessment, the department of revenue shall recertify the equalized value of the school district in which such property is located.
(3) (a) In determining the value of agricultural land under
sub. (1), the department shall fulfill the requirements under s.
70.32 (2r).
(b) In determining the value under sub. (1) of agricultural forest land, as defined in s. 70.32 (2) (c) 1d., and undeveloped land,
as defined in s. 70.32 (2) (c) 4., the department shall fulfill the requirements under s. 70.32 (4).
(4) (a) From the appropriation under s. 20.566 (2) (b), the department shall provide payments to any taxation district that certifies to the department, in the manner prescribed by the department, that the most recent valuation of the taxation district’s
property under this section is greater than it should be because of
a clerical, arithmetic, transpositional, or similar error made by the
department, as confirmed by the department, and that the amount
of the overvaluation represents 7.5 percent or more of the taxation district’s valuation under this section in the year prior to the
year in which the error occurred.
(b) If property tax bills for the assessment year in which the
error relates have been distributed to property owners, the taxation district receiving payments under par. (a) shall use the payments to make loans to persons who own property located in the
taxation district and who are paying more property taxes than
they should be as a result of the error. A person may receive a
loan by applying, in the manner prescribed by the department, to
the taxation district in which the person’s property is located no
later than June 15 of the year following the error. The state shall
collect the amount of any loan issued under this paragraph as a
state special charge against the taxation district for the year after
the year in which the error occurred and the special charge shall
not be included in the taxation district’s levy. The taxation district shall assess the loan amount as a special charge against the
property for which the loan was made on the property tax bill
succeeding the loan, as provided under ch. 74 and s. 66.0627 (1)
(c). Except for interest and penalties, as provided under s. 74.47,
that apply to any delinquent special charge based on the loan
amount, neither the department nor the taxation district may
charge interest on any loan issued under this paragraph. The
maximum loan amount that a person may receive under this paragraph shall be calculated by multiplying the assessed value of the
person’s property by a decimal determined by the department as
follows:
1. For the year in which the error occurred, apportion county,
school district, technical college district, and metropolitan sewerage district property taxes to the taxation district using the taxation district’s erroneous valuation.
2. For the year in which the error occurred, apportion county,
school district, technical college district, and metropolitan sewerage district property taxes to the taxation district using the taxation district’s correct valuation.
3. Subtract the amount determined under subd. 2. from the
amount determined under subd. 1.
4. Divide the amount determined under subd. 3. by the taxation district’s assessed value for the year in which the error occurred and express the result as a decimal.
(c) With regard to loans made under par. (b), the department
shall make the payments under par. (a) monthly, based on the
amounts requested in loan applications to the taxation district
each month, except that the department shall make no payments
to a taxation district after June 30 of the year following the year in
which the error occurred.

(d) If property tax bills for the assessment year in which the
error relates have not been distributed to property owners, the department may make one payment from the appropriation under s.
20.566 (2) (b) to the taxation district to reduce the property taxes
that would otherwise be imposed as a result of the error. The department shall confirm the amount of the payment and provide
guidance to the taxation district in allocating the amount to specific parcels. In the year following the error, the taxation district,
with the guidance of the department, shall collect from property
owners in the taxation district an amount equal to the amount of
the payment and shall remit the amount collected to the department. The department may not charge interest for any payment
under this paragraph. Notwithstanding s. 66.0602 or 79.05, payments under this paragraph in both the year the payment is made
to the taxation district and the year the taxation district returns
the payment to the department shall not be included in determining the taxation district’s or the county’s levy, or allowable levy
under s. 66.0602, or in determining the taxation district’s eligibility for, and calculation of payments, under s.79.05. Solely for
purposes of relating annual revenue to estimated expenses, the
amounts collected and remitted to the state under this paragraph
shall be deemed accrued receipts as of the close of the fiscal year,
but no revenue shall be deemed accrued receipts unless it is deposited by this state on or before August 31.

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