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State warns Milwaukee on commercial valuation; assessor's office plans full 2025 revaluation to restore compliance
Summary
The Department of Revenue’s preliminary major‑class comparison put Milwaukee’s commercial property valuation outside the state’s 90%–110% benchmark; the assessor’s office said it will complete a full revaluation in 2025 to cure the noncompliance.
Milwaukee’s assessor’s office told the Finance and Personnel Committee on Jan. 15 it is responding to a Department of Revenue notice of noncompliance for commercial property valuation and expects a citywide revaluation in 2025 to restore compliance.
Commissioner of Assessments Nicole Larson and Deputy Chief Assessor Bill Bowers explained the Department of Revenue’s preliminary major‑class comparison — required by state statute (Wis. Stat. ch. 70) — measures how a municipality’s assessed values compare to the state’s equalized 100% market benchmark. The statutory goal is for a municipality’s class‑level ratios to fall within 90%–110% of the state benchmark; the Department sends a first notice after four consecutive years outside that band.
Larson said Milwaukee’s deviation began with choices made during the pandemic years, when the assessor’s office twice used maintenance (carry‑forward) years rather than full reassessments. "In 2021, it went out of compliance slightly," she said, and while a 2022 revaluation reduced the gap, a 2023 maintenance year left Milwaukee outside the target range. The assessor’s office has reorganized staffing to stratify appraisers into commercial and residential teams, added a real‑estate modeler position and focused on clearing a backlog of objections and litigation.
Deputy assessor Bill Bowers described the market dynamics that complicated assessment work: pandemic‑related declines in commercial income and occupancy, followed by large federal interventions that shifted market behavior. He said the assessor’s office uses an income approach for many commercial valuations when sales data are scarce, while the Department of Revenue relies principally on market sales analysis. "Department of Revenue does a sales analysis approach only," Bowers said, which can produce different short‑term outcomes. The assessor’s team said it has been in contact with the Department of Revenue and sent stratification reports and expects the 2025 revaluation to bring Milwaukee back into compliance.
Committee members asked about historical frequency of noncompliance; assessor staff said a 15‑year records request to the state found no prior first noncompliance letters within the last 15 years, though earlier data showed at least one major class outside the band around 2010. The assessor’s office also reported it has reduced a backlog of roughly 5,000 objections and currently has about 100 outstanding objections for 2024.
The committee placed the Department of Revenue report on file.
