Property Tax Assessments

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WI Court of Appeals – District I

Case Name: Metropolitan Associates v. City of Milwaukee

Case No.: 2016AP21

Officials: Kloppenburg, P.J, Sherman, and Blanchard, JJ.

Focus: Property Tax Assessments

Metropolitan Associates appeals a circuit court decision upholding the City of Milwaukee’s property tax assessments for the 2008-2011 tax years for property owned by Metropolitan. Metropolitan argues that the circuit court erred in concluding that Metropolitan failed to rebut the

statutory presumption of correctness to which the City’s assessments are entitled. Specifically, Metropolitan argues that it rebutted the presumption of correctness because: (1) the City’s initial assessments were invalid as a matter of law; (2) the City’s subsequent single-property assessments, which the City used to evaluate the initial assessments, relied on property valuation techniques that were contrary to Wisconsin property tax assessment law; and (3) the circuit court erred in finding that the valuation opinions of Metropolitan’s appraiser were not reliable and did not constitute “significant evidence” that the City’s initial assessments were incorrect.1 For the reasons discussed below, we affirm.

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Attorney Derek A. Hawkins is the managing partner at Hawkins Law Offices LLC, where he heads up the firm’s startup law practice. He specializes in business formation, corporate governance, intellectual property protection, private equity and venture capital funding and mergers & acquisitions. Check out the website at www.hawkins-lawoffices.com or contact them at 262-737-8825.