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Delafield board lowers assessment for 3501 Trinity Lane to $4.5 million
Summary
After hearing a market appraisal, the City of Delafield Board of Review found the assessor's valuation incorrect and set the property's full value at $4,500,000, lowering the assessment for 3501 Trinity Lane.
The City of Delafield Board of Review voted on May 12, 2025, to reduce the assessed full value of 3501 Trinity Lane from the assessor's figures to $4,500,000 after hearing sworn testimony and a paid appraisal commissioned by the property owner. The board set the land value at $1,845,000 and improvements at $2,655,000, and directed the clerk to certify the determination.
The decision followed testimony by Michael May, trustee of the 3501 Trinity Trust, and Jorge Barrero, the appraiser who produced a sales-comparison appraisal concluding a market value of $4.5 million. The city assessor, Cal (city assessor), told the board he had received the appraisal only shortly before the hearing and that, had it been presented earlier, he “would have changed the assessed value to match the appraisal.”
The appraiser described his methodology as a sales-comparison approach focused on recent one-story lakefront and nearby sales, with adjustments for lake quality, frontage and time of sale. “The market data strongly supports that it increased, but not to that extent,” Barrero said, summarizing his conclusion that the property’s market value was lower than the assessor’s figure.
During deliberations the board examined the appraisal’s comparables, the assessor’s mass-appraisal process and testimony from both sides. A member moved that the assessor’s valuation be found incorrect and that the owner’s value be adopted; the motion was approved by roll call vote. The roll call recorded votes of yes from Mayor (chair), Craig Hynes, Paul Price, Janine Swall, Tom Wolfenberger and Steven Laughlin.
The board’s written determination references the sworn testimony and the appraisal as factual bases for rebutting the statutory presumption of correctness that applies to the assessor’s valuation. The clerk will prepare the formal determination form and provide required notices to the property owner.
The decision closes the hearing for 3501 Trinity Lane; the clerk confirmed the determination will be certified and mailed as required by board procedure.
