[Ord. No. 08-02, 3-10-2008]
There shall be six members of the Board of Review. The members shall be the Mayor, the City Clerk, and four Aldermen.
[Ord. No. 08-02, 3-10-2008]
The Aldermen shall be appointed to the Board of Review by the Mayor, subject to confirmation by the Council. The Mayor shall appoint the committee Chairman.
[Ord. No. 08-02, 3-10-2008; amended 7-13-2009 by Ord. No. 09-12]
The terms of the elected members on the Board of Review shall serve contemporaneously with their terms on the Council.
[Ord. No. 08-02, 3-10-2008]
Members of the Board of Review shall not receive a salary beyond that which they receive for serving as City officials.
[Ord. No. 08-02, 3-10-2008]
Board of Review. The Board of Review shall have the duties and powers described by W.S.A., § 70.47, including those duties and powers set forth below:
(1) 
Meeting. The Board of Review shall hold a meeting annually. The meeting shall be held at any time during the thirty-day period beginning on the second Monday of May. The meeting shall take place at the City Hall. The Board shall give notice of the meeting every year as required by W.S.A., § 70.47(2). The Board shall hold all meetings publicly and shall have the meetings open to all citizens at all times. The Board shall conduct the meeting as set forth in W.S.A., § 70.47(3). The Board may adjourn from time to time until its business is completed. The Clerk shall keep a record of all the proceedings. Fuller explanations of the proceeding duties and powers are described in W.S.A., § 70.47(1) through (5). The City Clerk shall create and post all agendas for this committee.
(2) 
Duty. The Board shall carefully examine the tax roll or tax rolls and correct all apparent errors in description or computation, and shall add all omitted property. If the Board wishes to proceed in adding an omitted property, it must follow the procedures as set forth in W.S.A., § 70.47(10). The Board shall not raise or lower the assessment of any property except after a hearing. The hearing must be conducted as per the requirements set forth in W.S.A., § 70.47(8) and must conform to W.S.A., § 70.47(10).
[Added 7-13-2009 by Ord. No. 09-12[1]]
(a) 
Objections to evaluations shall comply with the provisions of § 70.47(7), Wis. Stats.
(b) 
Hearing extension. Pursuant to § 70.47(7)(c), Wis. Stats., the Board of Review shall grant a taxpayer a sixty-day extension for a hearing related to the taxpayer’s objection to an assessment if the taxpayer submits to the Board, along with the objection, a request for an extension. The fee for a sixty-day extension shall be $100 paid to the City.
(c) 
Presentation of evidence. Each taxpayer who submits an assessment objection, regardless of whether the taxpayer has requested the extension in Subsection (b) above, and the Assessor shall present to the Board of Review all evidence, as specified in the manual under § 73.03(2a), Wis. Stats., to support their respective positions. If the taxpayer receives an extension under Subsection (b), at least 10 days before the scheduled Board of Review hearing, the taxpayer and the Assessor shall simultaneously exchange all reports, documents and exhibits that the taxpayer and Assessor will present at the hearing.
(d) 
Notice to taxpayer. Each year, at least 60 days prior to the first day on which the Board of Review hears objections, the Assessor shall publish or cause to be published, on the City’s internet site, the last day on which a taxpayer may submit an assessment objection. Each year, at least 15 days prior to the first day on which the Board of Review hears objections, the Assessor shall include, with each notice a changed assessment provided pursuant to § 70.365, Wis. Stats., information to inform the taxpayer of the last day on which the taxpayer may submit an assessment objection.
[1]
Editor’s Note: This ordinance also provided for the renumbering of former Secs. 2-251 through 2-254 as Secs. 2-251 through 2-255, respectively.
[Ord. No. 08-02, 3-10-2008]
The City shall have the right and duty to remove a member of the Board of Review for the hearing on a specific objection if any of the following conditions apply:
(1) 
A person who is objecting to a valuation requests the removal. The request must be in compliance with the request procedure in W.S.A., § 70.47(6m)(a)1. The City may not remove more than one member of the Board of Review (per objection hearing) through this process.
(2) 
A Board of Review member has a conflict of interest under a City ordinance.
(3) 
A member has bias. The party requesting removal must submit an affidavit as per W.S.A., § 70.47(6m)(a)3.
Board members must recuse themselves for specific objections if they would violate their ethical duties by attending the hearing.
Notwithstanding the above requirements, no fewer than three members may hear the objection.
[Ord. No. 08-02, 3-10-2008; amended 7-13-2009 by Ord. No. 09-12]
The City Clerk has the duty to receive written comments about valuations, assessment practices, and the performance of an Assessor from any person. The City Clerk shall provide all the comments he or she receives to the appropriate municipal officer.
[Ord. No. 08-02, 3-10-2008]
The Board has the right and duty to, upon discovering an error in assessment, raise or lower the assessment accordingly. The Board shall state on the record the correct assessment and that the assessment is reasonable in light of all the relevant evidence that the Board received. The Board shall follow the rest of the correction process described in W.S.A., § 70.47(9).
[Ord. No. 08-02, 3-10-2008]
The Board shall otherwise organize and conduct itself as set forth in the provisions of W.S.A., §§ 70.46 and 70.47.