Committee reviews revised tax-deed ordinance after Tyler v. Hennepin; seeks explicit 3-year acquisition timeline

The Sawyer County Land, Water and Forest Resources Committee reviewed a proposed amendment to the county’s tax-deed and tax-lien ordinance that would align local practice with changes prompted by the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Tyler v. Hennepin and subsequent Wisconsin legislation. After discussion the committee voted to send the draft ordinance back to staff with a request to add an explicit three-year timeframe for county acquisition of tax-deeded property.

County staff told the committee the Supreme Court decision and subsequent state acts require counties to change how they handle proceeds and offer former owners statutory rights to repurchase certain properties. “The primary outcome of that is that previously when the county sold the tax deed property … the county was able to retain those funds, and the county is no longer able to do that, or at least you have to make an attempt to track down the prior owner, and return those funds to that individual,” the staff presenter said.

The draft ordinance the committee reviewed would incorporate state statute procedures (including rights of former owners to repurchase, timelines for appraisal and sale, and mandated notice and sale methods). Under the proposed language, the treasurer must notify former owners within 20 days of acquisition that they may be entitled to proceeds; an appraised value must be determined within 120 days; owner-occupied single-family residences get a right to repurchase within specific windows; and the county must publish sales or list properties on a multiple-listing service within statutory timelines.

Committee members asked whether appraisals should be performed by a certified appraiser or by treasurer staff using fair-market data. Staff said counties commonly set an appraised value in-house to avoid appraisal expense, but the committee may require a certified appraiser if it chooses. The committee also discussed the county’s previous informal practice of waiting up to five years to take tax-deeded properties; staff said state statute allows acquisition after three years and recommended the ordinance reflect a three-year acquisition timeline rather than the prior five-year practice.

A committee member moved that staff modify the draft ordinance to add the three-year timeframe explicitly; another member seconded. The motion carried by voice vote. (No roll-call tally was recorded in the meeting transcript.) Staff said the ordinance would be revised and returned to the committee for final review before being forwarded to the County Board.

The committee also learned that a class-action suit related to the Tyler v. Hennepin matter had been filed against Wisconsin counties; staff said counties have referred the matter to insurance counsel and that the litigation is in early stages.

The committee did not adopt the ordinance at this meeting; it directed staff to revise the draft to include the specified acquisition timeframe and to return the amended ordinance for committee consideration and potential forwarding to the County Board.