MONROE — With a tax season starting to wrap, in which many homeowners saw increases in their bills, county officials are working to educate the public on the intricacies and variables that go in to computing a given property tax liability.

More questions than ever about the process are being raised, in part due to major increase in assessed value, particularly in the Monroe area, said County Treasurer Sherri Hawkins. The red-hot housing market also has contributed to interest in the valuation process, according to experts.

“It’s a very complex process and not everyone knows how it works,” Hawkins said. “We are hoping we can help them get the answers they need.”

To help address them, she recently delivered a detailed — but somewhat simplified — tutorial on the process to the full county board. And now that presentation, “Understanding your Tax Bill: A Basic Understanding of Assessment and Taxation” is available to the public for download on the county’s website.

The presentation covers the basics of how property is assessed and equalized and how tax formulas are applied to calculate bottom-line, tax bills. She said numerous county board members and department heads were appreciative of the presentation and that officials hope all residents take the time to review it.

The tutorial starts with an explanation of the “Taxation Cycle”, comprised of the assessment process; the equalization process; the budget process, in which the actual tax levies are calculated; and the final apportionment process. 

It also covers the “Open Book” process for scrutinizing assessments and the typical ways that property owners use to challenge their assessments before the Board of Review. 

“This year we have had a lot of questions about it,” she said, adding that not only assessments, but referendums, improvements, and other factors all contribute to a property’s tax bill.

Most tax bills have been completed across the county — 22 of 24 townships, she said. Only Jefferson and Albany Townships have yet to be completed, due to several factors, and those should be done relatively soon.

Among other tips, Hawkins said she recommends that homeowners follow the process closely each tax year, as notices typically are not sent out unless there is a major change. When a homeowner calls the Treasurer’s Department with a concern, staff there are trained to help them dig into each component on their bills to come up with a viable and personalized explanation.

“We are happy to help them understand the process,” she said. “Each increase (in assessed value or taxes) is somewhat unique to that property…and so we sit down and go through all of the factors that contribute…”

According to the Wisconsin Policy Forum: “The recent state budget delivered historic aid increases to municipalities and counties yet this December’s gross property tax bills will climb by the largest amount since the Great Recession. State tax credits will help hold down the net tax that property owners actually pay but the rise in levies highlights the impact of inflation on taxpayers and school districts.”

Indeed, education increases account for some of the largest increases in tax bills statewide. It all adds up to plenty of taxpayer confusion, the group said.

Increases in aid from the state will help blunt the impact of some increases. 

“However local government is a labor-intensive exercise and inflation and employee turnover have pushed up the wages of some workers such as teachers by as much as 8% this year,” said a forum position paper. “It is worth noting that recent infusion of state aid was not enough to blunt higher-than-usual property tax increases on December bills and that another increase is possible a year from now.”

To download the tax tutorial document, go to the Green County Treasurer’s web site: https://www.greencountywi.org/DocumentCenter/View/2242/Understanding-Your-Tax-Bill-PDF.