Trust – Tax Assessment

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WI Court of Appeals – District II

Case Name: State of Wisconsin Ex Rel., et al. v. Board of Review for the Town of Delafield

Case No.: 2017AP516

Officials: Neubauer, C.J., Gundrum and Hagedorn, JJ.

Focus: Trust – Tax Assessment

The Peter Ogden Family Trust of 2008 and The Therese A. Mahoney-Ogden Family Trust of 2008 (collectively “the Trust”) filed this action for certiorari review of a decision of the Board of Review for the Town of Delafield sustaining the 2016 property tax assessment of the Trust’s real property. The Trust argues the Board failed to act according to law when it sustained the assessment, which was based upon the assessor’s change in the classification of the property from agricultural and agricultural forest to residential. Specifically, the Trust claims the classification change was erroneous because it was based upon the assessor’s and the Board’s mistaken legal belief that in order for land to qualify as agricultural land, crops grown on the property must be grown for a business purpose. Because we agree that both the assessor’s change of the classification to residential and the Board’s sustainment of that change were based upon the erroneous legal belief that a business purpose was necessary for an agricultural classification, we reverse and remand this matter to the circuit court.

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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.