Assessments Raise Ire of Liberty Grove Residents

Revaluations in Liberty Grove have many residents upset. The total assessed value of the town rose 33 percent over its last revaluation, completed in 2002.

Long lines of property owners have streamed into the town hall to contest their assessments for the last two weeks.

Town Clerk Bud Kalms said over 250 people have visited with Assessor David Dorschner to discuss their assessments.

The state determines the total value of municipalities, then tasks each municipality with dividing that value amongst its properties. The total value determined by the state this year is $979,351,900, the highest value of any municipality in Door County. The total value in 2002 was $735,665,800.

The town has rescheduled its Board of Review for Nov. 9 at 1 pm. Property owners may contest their assessment by appearing before the Board of Review or appointing someone to appear for them. Those who have already had their assessment changed through a meeting with the assessor do not have to appear before the Board of Review.

Under Wisconsin law, the assessor is presumed to be correct, so objectors must present convincing evidence that proves the assessor’s value for a property is wrong.

The state mandates that a town’s assessed value be within 10 percent of the figure determined by the Wisconsin Department of Revenue. Dorschner’s initial assessments came in at 104 percent of the state’s value.

Kalms said there was a similar uproar about assessments in 2002, when the town’s valuation nearly doubled to $758,000,000 from its 1996 value of $385,000,000.

But taxes, said Town Chairman John Lowry, do not go up proportionately with assessed value. The town’s portion of the property tax bill will go up little, if at all, he said.

The town’s portion of the mil rate is expected to drop from $2/ $1000 of valuation to $1.45 per $1,000 of valuation because of the assessment, Kalms said. The total mil rate (including town, state, county, Gibraltar School and Northeast Wisconsin Technical College taxes) is expected to drop from $11 to about $9 per $1,000 of valuation.

A final mil rate won’t be determined until after the Board of Review is complete and state credits are determined.

Lowry said he understands why people are asking questions.

“They’re wondering why the assessor put a certain value on their property when they say they couldn’t sell it for that number,” he said. “But from 2002 to 2007 the value of that property was in a strong upward trend, then it slipped downward. Now the assessor has to even that out when you have almost a decade between revaluations.”

There is a provision to initiate a redo of the revaluation. If owners of properties with a total valuation exceeding five percent of the town’s total band together, they may file a petition with the Department of Revenue to begin the process. The state would first review the method the assessor used to reach his figures and consult with the town. A redo of the revaluation would only be conducted if the Department of Revenue found problems with the initial revaluation.

The revaluation cost the town approximately $50,000 to perform.