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Assessor lays out 2026 revaluation; aldermen press office on alleged commercial underassessment
Summary
Deputy Commissioner Ryan Rancher and real-estate modeler Colin Williams presented the 2026 mass appraisal process and results (citywide residential increase ~6.43%, commercial ~5.31%), explained open-book and appeals procedures, and told aldermen they will review public prospectuses after questions about possible underassessment of large apartment portfolios raised by a Marquette Law School analysis.
City Assessor’s Office staff described the 2026 revaluation process and fielded extensive questions about equity and apartment valuations during the Judiciary & Legislation Committee meeting on May 4.
Deputy Commissioner Ryan Rancher opened by explaining that revaluation reflects market conditions as of Jan. 1 and that the office follows Wisconsin statutes (70.05 and 70.32) and the Wisconsin Property Assessment Manual. He said the assessor’s office breaks the city into roughly 140 residential neighborhoods and applies statistical models and neighborhood-level adjustments so values reflect local market differences.
Colin Williams, the assessor’s real estate modeler, described the mass-appraisal workflow: collecting conveyance records and sales, validating arm’s-length transactions, running statistical models in R, and having neighborhood appraisers review and make targeted edits. Williams…
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