MILWAUKEE -- The Milwaukee Assessor’s Office has completed its 2020 revaluation which shows significant gains in property values throughout the city, officials announced on Friday, April 24.
A news release says assessments rose in every Milwaukee aldermanic district led by an overall double-digit percentage increase in residential values. And, the combined value of residential and commercial properties, for the first time, exceeds the combined valuations seen before 2008.
The Assessor’s Office began mailing notices to each property owner on Friday. It shows the assessed value as of January 1, 2020. The new assessments do not incorporate any change in value that might have occurred over the past several months.
Any change in property value associated with the current COVID-19 pandemic is not reflected in the latest assessments. The assessments, by law, must reflect the value of each property as of the first of the year.
Milwaukee’s tax base – before adding manufacturing property – rose to $30.5-billion, up by more than 9% over the previous year. Residential values are up by 11.95%; commercial property is up 5.33%.
Residential property valuations were up more than 25% in Aldermanic District 6 on the north side, the highest increase of all districts. The smallest increase was in Aldermanic District 4, up 6.37%, which includes downtown and the near west side.
The news release says the Assessor determines property values primarily by carefully evaluating recent sales of similar properties.
As set in state law, tax assessments are used to apportion the city’s tax levy so that each property owner pays his or her share of the overall property tax collection. An increase in assessment does not necessarily mean an individual’s tax payment will increase, and the city’s tax collections are not significantly increased as a result of higher assessments.
Once they receive their new tax assessment notice, taxpayers can contact the Assessor’s Office to ask questions, provide additional information about the property, or initiate the formal process of challenging the assessment. This “Open Book” opportunity runs through May 18 and will be handled exclusively through telephone calls because the Assessor’s Office remains closed to the public. Information about the Open Book process is included with each tax assessment notice.