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Dunn County reprints tax bills after $15 million TIF valuation error affecting Village of Ridgeland residents
Summary
County staff said a Department of Revenue reporting error led to a $15 million change in a tax increment district valuation; corrected bills were reprinted and refunds will be processed for overcharged taxpayers.
Dunn County officials said on Jan. 8 that they reprinted corrected property tax bills for the Village of Ridgeland after a reporting error led to a $15 million change in the village's tax increment district valuation, driving large increases on many local tax bills.
County staff told the Dunn County Executive Committee that tax increment district (TIF) values reported to the Wisconsin Department of Revenue were not carried forward from 2023 into 2024, creating a mismatched equalized value and producing higher-than-expected levy calculations that were reflected on bills mailed to village residents.
Why it matters: The error raised some village tax bills by hundreds of percent in individual cases and affected multiple taxing jurisdictions. County staff said they worked with the Department of Revenue and the Division of Equalization to re-calculate values and reprint corrected bills so residents will receive amended statements and, where applicable, refunds.
County Manager Chris Corpula told the committee that county staff and state officials spent significant time resolving the error. "We finished out 2024 at $5,200,000 of sales tax revenue," Corpula said earlier in the meeting in a different item; on the TIF matter staff described hours of work with state agencies to identify and correct the reporting problem.
According to the accounting documents presented to the committee, the 2023 equalized value column showed roughly $20,000,000; the corrected 2024 value for the TIF area was reduced to about $3,000,000. The packet showed the TIF levy that had been printed for 2023 as roughly $347,000 with a $26,000 increment; in the erroneous 2024 calculation the increment column rose to about $491,000. Staff said the aggregate collected (original printed bills) for the parcels shown was about $530,000 (gross) and $507,000 after credits; the corrected printout shows gross collections of about $313,000 and net collections of about $290,000.
County staff said they reprinted corrected tax bills after the county's meeting with Village of Ridgeland officials, and that office staff are processing refunds and re-entries of payments that had been recorded against the original, incorrect bills. Staff reported that the office had collected approximately $59,000 and that refunds processed so far total about $45,000; additional refund processing was described as ongoing.
Officials cautioned that the correction's financial effects will take several years to fully settle across jurisdictions. Staff estimated a multi-year correction period of roughly seven to 10 years as taxing jurisdictions work to rebalance values and levies.
Discussion and next steps: County staff said the Department of Revenue provided a loan to the village to cover a $26,000 general fund levy shortfall for the year while the parties worked toward corrected values. Staff described the reprint and refund work as completed as quickly as practicable and said corrected bills should be in residents' mailings in the coming days.
The executive committee thanked county staff for the work and had no further action items on the matter.
Ending: County staff said they will continue processing refunds and monitoring the multi-year reconciliation process so that taxing jurisdictions gradually return to stable levy calculations.
