Real Estate Taxes and Assessments
On March 14, 2012 I attended a Door County Board of REALTORS (DCBR) meeting regarding real estate taxes and how the allocation of the assessment is related to real estate prices in this real estate market.
The Door County real estate market consists of 41,000 properties which are assessed for real estate tax purposes. At the March DCBR meeting, I was informed, upon receipt of their 2011 real estate tax statements, over 400 property owners protested their taxes. Of the 400 protestors, 235 people physically attended local board of review hearings. At those hearings, 40% of the taxes were decreased in some capacity. In speaking with two of the local attorneys who represented several people at the hearings, the individual adjustments were minimal.
By attending the session, I obtained useful information including the “2012 Guide for Property Owners” published by the Wisconsin Department of Revenue that provides information on property assessment and taxation in Wisconsin and the “Property Assessment Appeal Guide for Wisconsin Real Property Owners”.
The speaker suggested that you should review your real estate taxes every two years with your assessor. This will help you understand the level at which these assessments are taxed… and you never know, you may even get your real estate taxes reduced!!
