The Board of Review consists of five citizen members appointed and confirmed by the Village Board. Similar to a court the Board of Review is charged with the responsibility of correcting errors of over-assessments and under-assessments.We hope this has given you a better idea of the work we do in the assessor's office and how it relates to the overall property tax structure in Wisconsin. If you would like further clarification on any of these points or if you have any other questions regarding assessment practices in Wisconsin please come in and talk with our staff.
The Board can act only upon evidence given in the form of sworn oral testimony. You will be required to furnish significant evidence supporting your estimate of market value. An representative of the assessor's office will also present evidence relating to the assessed value of your property. The Board will then decide to raise, lower, or leave unchanged the assessed value of your property.
Keep in mind that the Board of Review can act only on evidence related to the market value of your property. Stating that taxes are too high is not relevant testimony at this hearing because the Board of Review has no authority to address property tax issues.
The best evidence of value would be a recent sale price of your property plus an account of any change that the property has undergone between the date of sale and the assessment date. The sales price would also need to be adjusted to reflect the change in property value between the date of the sale and the date of assessment which, in Wisconsin, is January 1st of each year. The next best evidence of market value is sale prices of other properties that are comparable to your property. Lacking either of the above, oral testimony by a qualified witness who has made a market value appraisal of the property is also acceptable evidence. The Board of Review will determine the market value of your property as indicated by the evidence submitted by you and by the assessor's office.
You will be provided a written notice of the Board's determination after the hearing. You have further rights to appeal the Board of Review decision, either to the Circuit Court of Kenosha County or you may also appeal the Board's determination to the Wisconsin Department of Revenue. Both of these avenues of appeal are provided to you on the notice of Board of Review determination.