Justices overrule city’s tax assessment

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A tax assessment on land near a roundabout was invalidated by the Wisconsin Supreme Court on Thursday when it ruled that a land owner’s error on an appeal filing was not sufficient to completely deny the assessment’s challenge.

The decision, authored by Justice Pat Crooks, states that CED Properties LLC’s notice to appeal the city of Oshkosh’s assessment can apply to the assessments on two streets, even though the notice challenging the assessment only listed one street’s amount.

“Wisconsin has long abandoned rigid pleading requirements in favor of liberal civil procedural rules,” the opinion states. “Notice pleading rules not only simplify pleading in Wisconsin, but also favor the resolution of claims on the merits.”

The city, in July 2010, assessed CED Properties’ land near Murdock Avenue and Jackson Street at $38,646.66, as part of a project to create a roundabout. However, when CED filed notice to appeal, they only listed the $19,241.73 assessment for the property along Murdock Avenue, and not the amount for which Jackson Street was assessed.

By the time the error was discovered, the 90-day window to file an appeal had passed. Winnebago County Circuit Judge Thomas Gritton ruled that the $19,404.93 assessment on the Jackson Street property, which wasn’t mentioned in the notice, could not be challenged because it was not contested in a timely manner.

At the time, Gritton also ruled against the city for the land near Murdock Avenue, as the city’s assessment notice had failed to mention the roundabout’s $4 million total cost and a statement of the project’s benefits for the property owner.

But Thursday’s decision – which overturns a 2013 decision by the Court of Appeals – invalidates the assessment on both properties and orders Gritton to find in favor of CED Properties. Crooks’ decision states that the notice had the parcel number on it – which encompassed both streets – and that was sufficient.

“By listing the parcel number and the name of the improvement project along with a reference to both street names, CED’s original complaint placed the City on reasonable and sufficient notice that it intended to appeal the entire amount of special assessments levied against its property,” the decision reads. “To conclude otherwise would hold CED to the type of technical pleading requirements that we have held no longer apply under our rules of civil procedure.”

Richard Carlson, an attorney with Silton Seifert Carlson SC representing the city of Oshkosh, noted that decisions by Gritton and the appellate court were close and that “the Supreme Court thought otherwise.”

He noted, however, that he felt the decision for the case may not have reverberations in other assessment law cases, as it is fairly “fact specific.” He did say, however, that “ultimately, it kind of favors the property owner.”

Neither CED Properties’ owner, Randy Abitz, nor his attorney, Erik Olsen of Eminent Domain Services LLC, returned messages Thursday.

Carlson said the city of Oshkosh is able to reassess the parcel, though he wasn’t sure if officials had decided whether to do so. Follow @eheisigWLJ