Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Property Assessment topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Wauwatosa mayor defends citywide property revaluation, says alderman spread 'misinformation'
Summary
The mayor told the common council that a citywide revaluation required by state law explains assessment increases and accused a fellow alder of sharing misleading analysis that omitted manufacturing property values.
The mayor of Wauwatosa opened the meeting with a prepared statement explaining this week’s property revaluation, saying the update was done to comply with state law and to make taxation fairer across current market values.
The mayor said many homeowners saw large assessment increases but that an increase in assessed value alone does not determine a homeowner’s final tax bill. “If, for example, assessments on every home went up by the same percentage, City taxes on each home would stay the same,” the mayor said, and urged residents to contact the assessor’s office for specifics.
The mayor cited remarks by City assessor Sarah Terrell and city materials to explain that the purpose of a revaluation is to equalize tax burdens based on market values. He said the city’s commercial growth since the last revaluation in 2019 — “commercial developments, which again include apartment buildings, have added $257,000,000 to our tax base” — helped blunt what otherwise might have been larger shifts onto homeowners as office property values fell.
The mayor also criticized “one alderman who is not here tonight” for disseminating what he called misleading figures. He said that alderman’s spreadsheet excluded manufacturing properties and thereby produced a false impression of a 1.9% tax shift away from commercial taxpayers. “Intentionally spreading false information, apparently for some political advantage, might be common practice in Washington, D.C. But not in Wauwatosa,” the mayor said.
The mayor gave a concrete example of how uneven impacts can be: his own assessment rose by $168,300, a 59.5% increase, bringing his home’s assessed value to $451,000. He emphasized that the final tax impact for any homeowner depends on how assessed values changed citywide and on the council’s adoption of the 2026 city budget in November.
He reminded residents that city taxes account for about 30% of a homeowner’s total property tax bill and that other taxing jurisdictions — the Wauwatosa School District, Milwaukee County, MATC and the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage Commission — set their own rates. He also noted that a school district referendum approved last year will increase school property tax bills this year.
The mayor closed by urging residents seeking clarity to contact the assessor’s office and by stressing the council’s duty to provide accurate information to constituents.
