Property Tax Alert: Wisconsin

August 2006

The valuation of a group of billboards for Wisconsin property tax purposes was invalid because it utilized only the income approach. The municipality was entitled to use third-tier methods of assessment because there was not a recent arm's-length sale of the property and the taxpayer provided no evidence of reasonably comparable sales. The income generated from billboard rentals could be utilized in a third-tier analysis, but it could not be the only factor in valuation. The municipality's use of the income approach and its exclusion of all other approaches and factors violated long-standing assessment principles, as well as the established billboard assessment practice throughout Wisconsin.

Please contact Rash & Associates for more information.