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Fond du Lac officials warn residents of large assessment changes as city begins revaluation
Summary
City staff told the council the citywide revaluation will reset assessed values after the market outpaced assessments; letters to about 16,000 property owners will be mailed April 23 and staff forecast an average assessment increase near 60%, but said levy and tax-rate mechanics mean individual bills may not rise by the same amount.
City Manager Mr. Moore and municipal staff told the Fond du Lac City Council on March 26 that a citywide property revaluation is under way and that assessment notices will be mailed April 23 to roughly 16,000 property owners. "I want you to imagine about a month from now, someone who gets a letter from the city in the mail," Moore said as he introduced the topic.
The revaluation is intended to bring the city's assessed values closer to the Wisconsin Department of Revenue's equalized values after assessments lagged market increases since the city's last revaluation in 2019. Moore said the city's current assessment ratio — the assessed value divided by the DOR's equalized value — is roughly 0.6–0.7, and staff are forecasting an average assessment increase near 60% when notices go out.
Why it matters: The revaluation redistributes each property's share of the existing tax levy; it does not automatically increase the city's tax levy. "Assessors have nothing to do with setting property taxes. Nothing at all," Moore said, noting the council sets the tax levy and that a higher denominator (total assessed value) will reduce the tax rate if the levy stays the same.
City staff provided several numeric details: about 95% of the city's property tax base is residential and commercial and about 5% is manufacturing; the combined assessed value as of Jan. 1, 2024 is roughly $3.0 billion versus an equalized value near $4.5 billion; and the revaluation contract is expected to cost about $275,000. Staff repeated that statewide guidance suggests municipalities consider revaluation when assessed and equalized values diverge by more than 10 percentage points.
Senior accountant Tessa Schmidt illustrated the math with small-city examples, emphasizing that whether an individual tax bill rises or falls depends on how that property's change compares with the citywide average: "What will determine how a tax bill changes during a revaluation ... is how much its value changes in relation to the total assessed value," Schmidt said.
Council members asked about logistics and outreach. Moore and Director of Administration Ms. Davey said the city will mail letters April 23, hold an informational agenda item that same night, run social-media posts and a press release in the week before mailing, and staff the assessor's office for "open book" meetings where residents can discuss valuations informally. Moore said the assessor will be available to take callers and meet with residents and that the formal appeal route is the board of review. The exact appeal window and board-of-review dates were described as part of the statutory process but not specified during the presentation.
The revaluation presentation was informational; there was no council vote on the revaluation itself on March 26. Moore said staff will return with final numbers and additional outreach for the April 23 meeting.
Ending: Staff advised councilmembers to direct callers who receive notices to the assessor first, and to the city's online meeting video and materials (which staff said will be indexed so viewers can jump directly to the presentation). The council will see final assessment numbers and additional outreach materials at the April 23 meeting.
