Jacksonport Considers Assessment Ratio

There’s reason to believe lakeshore property in Jacksonport is currently overvalued, according to Troy Zacharias of Action Appraisers and Consultants.

“There is a variation. Some of the [property] along the lake does show that maybe it should come down a little bit,” said Zacharias.

Zacharias provided the Jacksonport Town Board and about 30 residents at the town’s July 24 board meeting with a breakdown of the town’s arms-length property sales, or sales in which there is both a willing seller and a willing buyer. Thirteen of the 29 sales closed at least 10 percent under the assessed property value, while only five closed at least 10 percent over the assessed value.

An assessment ratio – calculated by dividing a property’s assessed value by its current market value – is one indicator used to determine the fairness of an assessed value.

A ratio of 100 percent would be perfectly fair, while a ratio under 100 percent shows that a property is undervalued and a ratio over 100 percent shows that a property is overvalued. Under state law, a municipality-wide assessment ratio under 90 percent or over 110 percent triggers an automatic reassessment in that municipality.

“[The town’s] assessment ratio for this year…should be somewhere between 103.5 and 104 percent,” said Zacharias. “When I did the reassessment in 2009 we were right around 100 percent, and we’ve been just creeping up slowly since then because of the economy.”

Zacharias said a full-blown reevaluation of the town is unnecessary, but he would like to examine and compare some of the sales, parcels, and neighborhoods throughout the town in order to perform an update.

“Some of the values will go down, some will go up, some will stay the same,” said Zacharias. “Your tax bills may not change a lot, because of the fact that the town, the schools, and the state need ‘X’ amount of dollars. If we come down [four to six] percent overall, the tax rate is going to go up to cover the difference.”

The residents in attendance at the meeting showed a good deal of support for a reassessment effort and also shared their own ideas about how to make sure assessed property values are fair.

Consideration of property improvements and equalization of the tax burden between lakeshore and inland property owners were the primary topics on their minds.

“I think back in the late ‘80s, farmland was taxed too high because it was priced too high. Then all of a sudden it all kinda got thrown to the shore,” said one resident. “I think what needs to be done in a township like this is to equalize it in some way, so that it makes everyone feel more comfortable.”

Zacharias said agricultural land does not factor into his assessments because of a state law enacted in 1995 that was intended to provide property tax relief for farmers. Agricultural land in Wisconsin is taxed according to its ability to produce farm income, not its actual property value.

“I have no control on that, but for the rest of it I look at sales. And four years ago when I looked at sales for the 2007-2008 reassessment, it did move water up,” said Zacharias. “Now we’re starting to see water go the other way. That’s what I’m trying to represent, that we maybe have to readjust.”

The Jacksonport Town Board took no action at the meeting but may entertain the notion of a reassessment sometime in the next couple of months.