2009AP1714 Emjay Investment Co. v. Village of Germantown

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Municipalities
Special assessments; statute of limitations

An aggrieved property owner must strictly comply with the 90-day period of appeal in sec. 66.0703(12)(a) or forfeit the right to appeal.

“The legislature has explicitly directed that an appeal under Wis. Stat. § 66.0703(12) is the ‘sole remedy’ of a property owner aggrieved by a special assessment levied under § 66.0703: An appeal under this subsection is the sole remedy of any person aggrieved by a determination of the governing body, whether or not the improvement was made according to the plans and specifications, and shall raise any question of law or fact, stated in the notice of appeal, involving the making of the improvement, the assessment of benefits or the award of damages or the levy of any special assessment. . . . § 66.0703(12)(e); see also Harbours Pointe of Nashotah, LLC v. Vill. of Nashotah, 278 F.3d 701, 705 (7th Cir. 2002) (‘A clear reading of the statute . . . demonstrates that section 66.60(12)(a) [renumbered as Wis. Stat. § 66.0703(12)(a)] explicitly provides a claimant with the ‘sole remedy’ for any complaint regarding a municipality’s collection of assessments under section 66.60 [renumbered as § 66.0703].’). Section 66.0703(12)(e) lists only two types of appeals that are excepted from the 90-day period of appeal in subsection (12)(a): ‘appeals based [1] on fraud or [2] on latent defects in the construction of the improvement discovered after the period of limitation.’”

Affirmed.

2009AP1714 Emjay Investment Co. v. Village of Germantown

Ziegler, J.

Attorneys: For Appellant: Jelenchick, Matthew R., Menomonee Falls; For Respondent: Pollen, Raymond J., Milwaukee; Doyle, Amy J., Milwaukee

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