Eliminating the property tax assessment freeze (suggested as remedial legislation by the Department of Revenue). (FE)

What it would have done

Summary by the Legislative Reference Bureau, the Legislature's nonpartisan drafting office. It's their wording, not ours.

This bill eliminates a property tax assessment freeze applicable to certain replacement property. Under current law, if a property owner 1) conveys property under threat of condemnation or through condemnation proceedings for the benefit of a public entity to be used for public purposes and 2) acquires a property to replace the conveyed property (replacement property), a municipality may “freeze” the assessed value of the replacement property, for up to five years, at an amount equal to the assessed value of the conveyed property in the year immediately preceding the conveyance. However, in Gottlieb v. City of Milwaukee , 33 Wis. 2d 408, 147 N.W.2d 633 (1967), the Wisconsin Supreme Court held that the uniformity clause of the Wisconsin Constitution requires that all property that is taxed must be taxed in its entirety and at the same rate that applies to all other property in a taxation district.

The court concluded that a property tax assessment freeze applicable to urban redevelopment corporations was unconstitutional because it constituted a partial exemption from the property tax.

Who's behind it

2 lawmakers are its authors⁠. 1 is a Republican. 1 has no party on record.

What it would cost

State agencies filed a cost estimate. Each opens as a PDF from the Legislature.

• Fiscal Estimate From DOR