Property Tax Alert: Wisconsin

June 2007

A Wisconsin property tax assessment was upheld because the assessor properly considered the long-term lease agreements with locked-in rents as they were the clearest indicator of the property value. In this case, no recent arm's-length transaction sales were available and the properties were subject to a long-term lease with locked-in rents. Evidence of comparable sales offered by the taxpayer was rejected because those sales did not involve properties with comparably lucrative rent arrangements. The taxpayer's argument that the contract rents, rather than the market rents, were improperly considered in valuing the properties was also rejected. Since the locked-in contract rents increased the value of the properties, it was determined that they were properly assessed at their full value.

Please contact Rash & Associates for more information.