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Condemnation – Appraisal – “All Property” Requirement

By: Derek Hawkins//December 31, 2019//

Condemnation – Appraisal – “All Property” Requirement

By: Derek Hawkins//December 31, 2019//

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WI Court of Appeals – District III

Case Name: Christus Lutheran Church of Appleton v. Wisconsin Department of Transportation

Case No.: 2018AP1114

Officials: Stark, P.J., Hruz and Seidl, JJ.

Focus: Condemnation – Appraisal – “All Property” Requirement

State law requires that when a governmental entity wishes to condemn property for transportation use, it must issue to the property owner a jurisdictional offer that is based on an appraisal. See WIS. STAT. § 32.05(2)(b), (3)(e) (2017-18). Christus Lutheran Church of Appleton challenges the validity of the jurisdictional offer the Wisconsin Department of Transportation (DOT) made for its property. The DOT’s offer was approximately $270,000 more than the property value stated in an appraisal submitted by the DOT in support of the offer, and the offer also included items (such as severance damages) that were not included in the appraisal. Although Christus Lutheran would benefit monetarily from the increased jurisdictional offer, it contends the DOT could not condemn its property at this time because there was an insufficient nexus between the jurisdictional offer and the appraisal.

We conclude the jurisdictional offer in this case was not sufficiently based on the appraisal. The appraisal must value “all property proposed to be acquired,” WIS. STAT. § 32.05(2)(a), and it must form a “fundamental ingredient” or “supporting part” of the jurisdictional offer, Otterstatter v. City of Watertown, 2017 WI App 76, ¶24, 378 Wis. 2d 697, 904 N.W.2d 396. In this case, the third-party appraisal concluded that no severance damages would occur as a result of the project, yet the DOT’s jurisdictional offer included a $159,574 line item for such damages. Given that just compensation for a taking includes applicable severance damages, see WIS. STAT. § 32.09(6)(e), the appraisal failed to satisfy subsec. (2)(a)’s “all property” requirement. As a result, the jurisdictional offer’s line item for severance damages found no support in the appraisal, and the offer was invalid under subsecs. (2)(b) and (3)(e). We therefore reverse the order granting summary judgment to the DOT and remand for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.

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Derek A Hawkins is trademark corporate counsel for Harley-Davidson. Hawkins oversees the prosecution and maintenance of the Harley-Davidson’s international trademark portfolio in emerging markets.

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