Property Assessment 'Search' Case Goes to Wisconsin Supreme Court

WISCONSIN -- A Racine County homeowner is arguing that certain types of property inspections for tax assessments amount to an illegal "search" of the property in violation of state law, and that penalizing those who refuse to such a "search" is in violation of their state constitutional rights.

Their case will be heard before The Wisconsin Supreme Court, after the court voted to accept 13 new cases, including this one in Racine County.

According to documentation released by the Wisconsin State Bar on Wednesday,homeowners Vincent Milewski and Morganne MacDonald of the Town of Dover refused to let an employee of Gardiner Appraisal Service into their house in 2013, after the Town of Dover sought to conduct an interior and exterior review of their property for municipal tax assessment.

Later in 2013, Gardiner Appraisal Services sent the Dover couple a certified letter seeking to set an appointment, advising the procedure would follow state law.

The couple wrote the town a letter saying that interior home
inspections were not legally required for a revaluation and that they “have not refused a ‘reasonable’ request to view our property by refusing to allow an unknown stranger entry into our private and secure residence.”

According to a release published this week by the Wisconsin State Bar, the town valued the couple's property at $307,100, a 12.12 percent increase from the previous assessment. Gardiner said it reached this figure after considering the possibility that the plaintiffs had remodeled over the past nine years, which had not been disclosed or could not be verified.

The couple attempted to appeal the assessment, stating their property was over-assessed, but were denied the appeal after public officials stated they had refused a reasonable request of the assessor to view the property.

When the couple was denied their appeal, the couple filed a complaint against the town and Gardiner in circuit court, arguing that Wisconsin statutes for property tax assessment and appeals are unconstitutional and that Gardiner over-assessed their property in violation state law.

A circuit court dismissed their claims, however a state appeals court later affirmed their claims.

The case now moves to the Wisconsin Supreme Court.

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