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City assessor details 2026 interim revaluation and warns residential share will rise
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Summary
City assessor Jason told the Committee of the Whole that a 2026 interim market update will adjust assessed values after state review flagged compliance gaps; he said residential property’s share of the tax burden rose after 2024 revaluation and outlined appeal and open-book timelines for homeowners.
Jason, the city assessor, told the City of West Allis Committee of the Whole that the assessor’s office will perform an interim market update in 2026 to bring local assessed values closer to current market levels and to address disparities identified by the Wisconsin Department of Revenue (DOR).
The assessor said the 2024 supervised revaluation raised the city’s total assessed roll from about $3.8 billion to $5.5 billion. He told the committee that DOR initially set an assessment level well below 100% — at 87.59% for 2024 — asked the city to add roughly $800 million more in value, and denied the city’s appeal on Dec. 31, 2024. DOR later revised the 2024 assessment level to 90.45%, which brought the city into compliance for that year, the assessor said.
"This is not a mechanism to raise taxes," Jason said, describing mass appraisal as a method to align assessed values with market values so property classes share the levy proportionally. He said the important effect homeowners experienced in 2024 was not merely a revaluation but a shift in allocation: residential property’s share of total assessed value rose from about 60% in 2023 to 67% after the reval, and is projected at roughly 68% heading into the new cycle.
Why it matters: because Wisconsin’s assessment process compares a locality’s assessed roll to DOR’s estimate of fair market value, sustained divergence can trigger supervised action. The assessor warned that DOR’s yearly economic change factors appear to be compounding over time, a practice he described as a "compounding error," and said the city has asked DOR for the data used to make those adjustments but had not received it.
The assessor walked the committee through classification and valuation matters that affect allocation. He said four-unit and larger apartment buildings are classified as commercial ("4 units or more is commercial. Residential is only 1, 2, and 3"), and noted that personal property is now largely exempt, shifting its previous share onto residential, commercial and manufacturing classes.
He pointed to a large manufacturing site (identified as the Chris Hansen property on Maple and 92nd Street) where DOR currently shows a $6 million assessment despite building permits and owner reports indicating roughly $120 million of reported project value. Jason said DOR will issue manufacturing values in June 2026 and the city may appeal any industrial values it disputes; he estimated comparable large industrial sales would suggest a much higher value than DOR’s current figure.
Market context: Jason said the median single-family sale price in West Allis rose from $250,000 in 2024 to $270,000 in 2025, with 571 single-family sales last year and the largest concentration in the $200,000 price band. He gave several example sales to show variance between sale prices and assessed values.
Next steps and appeals: the assessor said assessment notices will be mailed April 7; open-book appointments are scheduled for April 13–17; and board review and the formal appeal window begin in May. The city will report final numbers to DOR in June. He also cautioned that a pending exemption lawsuit involving a $14 million property could remove that value from the commercial base and further increase residential’s percent share if the court rules in favor of the claimant.
During the Q&A, an alderman asked how the assessor can obtain income information from commercial owners. Jason said state law requires owners to provide income-and-expense data seven days before board review if the income approach is used; failure to provide the data removes an owner’s right to appeal that valuation methodology, he said. He also described using permits, photos and comparable rents when owners do not cooperate.
The Committee approved the Jan. 20 minutes at the start of the meeting and later adjourned following the assessor’s presentation. Jason said he would return in May with updated figures following board review if the committee wishes further updates.
