Most Milwaukee homes to gain value in 2022 assessment. Here's what it means for property taxes.
Milwaukee residents opening their property assessment notices may need to brace themselves.
Notices were expected to be sent out by April 20.
The citywide increase in assessed value was 13.23% between commercial and residential property, according to new City Assessor Nicole Larsen.
The assessments are increasing nearly 18% on average for residences, with all of the city's 15 aldermanic districts experiencing a rise.
But it's some of the city's lowest-income areas that are seeing the greatest jumps.
And while higher assessments don't automatically translate into higher property taxes when the bill arrives later in the year, they do tend to cause some consternation for residents.
Here's what you need to know in 2022:
Why are assessments going up so much?
The city did not do a revaluation in 2021, so the 2022 reassessments will reflect two years of market changes instead of the typical one, Larsen told the Common Council's Judiciary and Legislation Committee recently.
She also noted that the market for residential real estate was robust in 2020 and 2021, with the median sale price of homes in the city rising from $138,000 in 2019 to $172,000 in 2021.
Meanwhile, the number of sales of residential properties increased from 4,700 in 2019 to about 8,600 in 2021.
The decision not to perform a reassessment last year was due to a "huge volume" of appeals and then-Assessor Steve Miner's sense that he did not have the staff to handle the workload at that time, Ald. Scott Spiker said in committee of his recollection of those discussions.
The Board of Review, the second body to hear objections to assessments, is still trying to dig out from an influx in the last couple of years.
Where were the biggest and smallest changes?
Two central city aldermanic districts saw the largest percentage increases in residential property values while the two lowest were in districts representing the east side and Riverwest and downtown, according to data Larsen presented to the committee.
The largest increase of 31.86% in District 7 in the central city was closely followed by a rise of 30.93% in neighboring District 15, represented by Alds. Khalif Rainey and Russell Stamper II, respectively.
Meanwhile, the smallest increase of 10.3% came in District 3, which covers the city's east side and Riverwest and is represented by Ald. Nik Kovac. The next-lowest was downtown District 4 represented by Ald. Robert Bauman, which saw a rise of 12.42%.
Why does a higher assessment not automatically mean higher property taxes?
Assessments are only part of how property tax bills are calculated.
The primary driver is the tax levy — that is, the total property taxes that will be budgeted by the Common Council and Mayor Cavalier Johnson during the budget process this fall.
Once the levy is set later this year, payments are spread across the overall value of taxable property in the city. That means individual property owners' tax bills depend more on whether their increase was above or below the average change in assessment citywide.
What do I do if I think my assessment is inaccurate?
Owners can appeal their assessments until May 16 and for the first time will be able to file their appeals online, Larsen said.
The Assessor's Office can be contacted during this period:
Online: Ask the Assessor
By email: assessor@milwaukee.gov
By phone: (414) 286-6565
Monday – Friday 8:00AM – 4:45PM
A step-by-step guide to appealing can be found on the Assessor's Office website.
Contact Alison Dirr at 414-224-2383 or adirr@jrn.com. Follow her on Twitter @AlisonDirr.
Our subscribers make this reporting possible. Please consider supporting local journalism by subscribing to the Journal Sentinel at jsonline.com/deal.
DOWNLOAD THE APP: Get the latest news, sports and more
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: What 2022 Milwaukee property assessments mean for home values, taxes
