Senator Dave Craig (R-Big Bend) and Rep. Rob Brooks (R-Saukville) plan to introduce a bill, LRB 2285, allowing persons who refuse an assessor's request to view the interior of their property to appear before the board of review to contest the property's assessed value and to file a claim for an excessive assessment. Current law prohibits a property owner from appearing before the board of review to contest the assessed value of the property if the owner refuses to allow the assessor to view the interior of the property.
The bill also requires an assessor to provide written notice to each owner of residential property regarding the property owner's right to refuse entry to his or her residence for property tax assessment purposes.
The bill explicitly prohibits the assessor from increasing the value of a person's property based on the person's refusal to allow entry.
Finally, the bill allows a person who has not complied with a request to provide income information to the assessor to file a claim for an excessive assessment. Current law prohibits a property owner from appearing before the board of review or filing a claim for an excessive assessment if the owner declines to share income information with the assessor.
The authors are currently seeking co-sponsors for the bill.
The League opposes this bill. It makes significant changes to longstanding features of property tax assessment law designed to ensure that assessed valuations are accurate and fair. The bill also imposes a new costly and inefficient notice mandate on assessors.
Action Step: Contact your state legislators and urge them to oppose LRB 2285 and to not sign on as a co-sponsor of the bill.
After you contact your Legislators, click here to Tweet and help us create a buzz on this bill.
