SB623: Bill Text

SB623,32 Section 32. 70.20 of the statutes is amended to read:

SB623,14,5 70.20 Owner's liability when personalty assessed to another; action to collect. (1) When For assessments made before January 1, 2022, when personal property shall be assessed to some person in charge or possession thereof, other than the owner, such owner as well as the person so in charge or possession shall be liable for the taxes levied pursuant to such assessment; and the liability of such owner may be enforced in a personal action as for a debt. Such action may be brought in the name of the town, city or village in which such assessment was made, if commenced before the time fixed by law for the return of delinquent taxes, by direction of the treasurer or tax collector of such town, city or village. If commenced after such a return, it shall be brought in the name of the county or other municipality to the treasurer or other officer of which such return shall be made, by direction of such treasurer or other officer. Such action may be brought in any court of this state having jurisdiction of the amount involved and in which jurisdiction may be obtained of the person of such owner or by attachment of the property of such owner.

SB623,14,15 (2) The For assessments made before January 1, 2022, the remedy of attachment may be allowed in such action upon filing an affidavit of the officer by whose direction such action shall be brought, showing the assessment of such property in the assessment district, the amount of tax levied pursuant thereto, that the defendant was the owner of such property at the time as of which the assessment thereof was made, and that such tax remains unpaid in whole or in part, and the amount remaining unpaid. The proceedings in such actions and for enforcement of the judgment obtained therein shall be the same as in ordinary actions for debt as near as may be, but no property shall be exempt from attachment or execution issued upon a judgment against the defendant in such action.

SB623,15,2 (3) The For assessments made before January 1, 2022 and taxes levied before January 1, 2022, the assessment and tax rolls in which such assessment and tax shall be entered shall be prima facie evidence of such assessment and tax and of the justice and regularity thereof; and the same, with proof of the ownership of such property by the defendant at the time as of which the assessment was made and of the nonpayment of such tax, shall be sufficient to establish the liability of the defendant. Such liability shall not be affected and such action shall not be defeated by any omission or irregularity in the assessment or tax proceedings not affecting the substantial justice and equity of the tax. The provisions of this section shall not impair or affect the remedies given by other provisions of law for the collection or enforcement of such tax against the person to whom the property was assessed.

SB623,33 Section 33. 70.21 (1) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB623,15,8 70.21 (1) Except For assessments made before January 1, 2022, except as provided in sub. (2), the personal property of a partnership may be assessed in the names of the persons composing the partnership, so far as known or in the firm name or title under which the partnership business is conducted, and each partner shall be liable for the taxes levied on the partnership's personal property.

SB623,34 Section 34. 70.21 (1m) (intro.) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB623,15,12 70.21 (1m) (intro.) Undistributed For assessments made before January 1, 2022, undistributed personal property belonging to the estate of a decedent shall be assessed as follows:

SB623,35 Section 35. 70.21 (2) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB623,15,17 70.21 (2) The For assessments made before January 1, 2022, the personal property of a limited liability partnership shall be assessed in the name of the partnership, and each partner shall be liable for the taxes levied thereon only to the extent permitted under s. 178.0306.

SB623,36 Section 36. 70.22 (1) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB623,16,5 70.22 (1) In For assessments made before January 1, 2022, in case one or more of 2 or more personal representatives or trustees of the estate of a decedent who died domiciled in this state are not residents of the state, the taxable personal property belonging to the estate shall be assessed to the personal representatives or trustees residing in this state. In case there are 2 or more personal representatives or trustees of the same estate residing in this state, but in different taxation districts, the assessment of the taxable personal property belonging to the estate shall be in the names of all of the personal representatives or trustees of the estate residing in this state. In case no personal representative or trustee resides in this state, the taxable personal property belonging to the estate may be assessed in the name of the personal representative or trustee, or in the names of all of the personal representatives or trustees if there are more than one, or in the name of the estate.

SB623,37 Section 37. 70.22 (2) (a) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB623,16,11 70.22 (2) (a) The For taxes levied before January 1, 2022, the taxes imposed pursuant to an assessment under sub. (1) may be enforced as a claim against the estate, upon presentation of a claim for the taxes by the treasurer of the taxation district to the court in which the proceedings for the probate of the estate are pending. Upon due proof, the court shall allow and order the claim to be paid.

SB623,38 Section 38. 70.27 (1) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB623,17,10 70.27 (1) Who may order. Whenever any area of platted or unplatted land is or land and the buildings, improvements, and fixtures on that land are owned by 2 or more persons in severalty, and when in the judgment of the governing body having jurisdiction, the description of one or more of the different parcels thereof cannot be made sufficiently certain and accurate for the purposes of assessment, taxation, or tax title procedures without noting the correct metes and bounds of the same, or when such gross errors exist in lot measurements or locations that difficulty is encountered in locating new structures, public utilities, or streets, such governing body may cause a plat to be made for such purposes. Such plat shall be called “assessor's plat," and shall plainly define the applicable boundary of each parcel, building, improvement, and fixture, and each street, alley, lane, or roadway, or dedication to public or special use, as such is evidenced by the records of the register of deeds or a court of record. Such plats in cities may be ordered by the city council, in villages by the village board, in towns by the town board , or the county board. A plat or part of a plat included in an assessor's plat shall be deemed vacated to the extent it is included in or altered by an assessor's plat. The actual and necessary costs and expenses of making assessors' plats shall be paid out of the treasury of the city, village, town, or county whose governing body ordered the plat, and all or any part of such cost may be charged to the land property, without inclusion of improvements, so platted in the proportion that the last assessed valuation of each parcel bears to the last assessed total valuation of all lands property included in the assessor's plat, and collected as a special assessment on such land property, as provided by s. 66.0703.

SB623,39 Section 39. 70.27 (3) (a) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB623,18,2 70.27 (3) (a) Reference to any land, or land and the buildings, improvements, and fixtures on that land as it the reference appears on a recorded assessor's plat is deemed sufficient for purposes of assessment and taxation. Conveyance may be made by reference to such plat and shall be as effective to pass title to the land so described as it would be if the same premises had been described by metes and bounds. Such plat or record thereof shall be received in evidence in all courts and places as correctly describing the several parcels of land or land and the buildings, improvements, and fixtures on that land therein designated. After an assessor's plat has been made and recorded with the register of deeds as provided by this section, all conveyances of lands or land and the buildings, improvements, and fixtures on that land included in such assessor's plat shall be by reference to such plat. Any instrument dated and acknowledged after September 1, 1955, purporting to convey, mortgage, or otherwise give notice of an interest in land or land and the buildings, improvements, and fixtures on that land that is within or part of an assessor's plat shall describe the affected land by the name of the assessor's plat, lot, block, or outlot.

SB623,40 Section 40. 70.27 (4) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB623,18,16 70.27 (4) Amendments. Amendments or corrections to an assessor's plat may be made at any time by the governing body by recording with the register of deeds a plat of the area affected by such amendment or correction, made and authenticated as provided by this section. It shall not be necessary to refer to any amendment of the plat, but all assessments or instruments wherein any parcel of land is or land and the buildings, improvements, and fixtures on that land are described as being in an assessor's plat, shall be construed to mean the assessor's plat of lands or land and the buildings, improvements, and fixtures on that land with its amendments or corrections as it stood on the date of making such assessment or instrument, or such plats may be identified by number. This subsection does not prohibit the division of lands or land and the buildings, improvements, and fixtures on that land that are included in an assessor's plat by subdivision plat, as provided in s. 236.03, or by certified survey map, as provided in s. 236.34.

SB623,41 Section 41. 70.27 (5) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB623,19,22 70.27 (5) Surveys, reconciliations. The surveyor making the plat shall be a professional land surveyor licensed under ch. 443 and shall survey and lay out the boundaries of each parcel, building, improvement, fixture, street, alley, lane, roadway, or dedication to public or private use, according to the records of the register of deeds, and whatever evidence that may be available to show the intent of the buyer and seller, in the chronological order of their conveyance or dedication, and set temporary monuments to show the results of such survey which shall be made permanent upon recording of the plat as provided for in this section. The map shall be at a scale of not more than 100 feet per inch, unless waived in writing by the department of administration under s. 236.20 (2) (L). The owners of record of lands or the land and the buildings, improvements, and fixtures on that land in the plat shall be notified by certified letter mailed to their last-known addresses, in order that they shall have opportunity to examine the map, view the temporary monuments, and make known any disagreement with the boundaries as shown by the temporary monuments. It is the duty of the professional land surveyor making the plat to reconcile any discrepancies that may be revealed so that the plat as certified to the governing body is in conformity with the records of the register of deeds as nearly as is practicable. When boundary lines between adjacent parcels, as evidenced on the ground, are mutually agreed to in writing by the owners of record, those lines shall be the true boundaries for all purposes thereafter, even though they may vary from the metes and bounds descriptions previously of record. Such written agreements shall be recorded in the office of the register of deeds. On every assessor's plat, as certified to the governing body, shall appear the document number of the record and, if given on the record, the volume and page where the record is recorded for the record that contains the metes and bounds description of each parcel, as recorded in the office of the register of deeds, which shall be identified with the number by which such parcel is designated on the plat, except that a lot that has been conveyed or otherwise acquired but upon which no deed is recorded in the office of register of deeds may be shown on an assessor's plat and when so shown shall contain a full metes and bounds description.

SB623,42 Section 42. 70.27 (7) (b) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB623,20,4 70.27 (7) (b) A clear and concise description of the land or the land and the buildings, improvements, and fixtures on that land so surveyed and mapped, by government lot, quarter quarter-section, township, range and county, or if located in a city or village or platted area, then according to the plat; otherwise by metes and bounds beginning with some corner marked and established in the United States land survey.

SB623,43 Section 43. 70.29 of the statutes is amended to read:

SB623,20,14 70.29 Personalty, how entered. The For assessments made before January 1, 2022, the assessor shall place in one distinct and continuous part of the assessment roll all the names of persons assessed for personal property, with a statement of such property in each village in the assessor's assessment district, and foot up the valuation thereof separately; otherwise the assessor shall arrange all names of persons assessed for personal property on the roll alphabetically so far as convenient. The assessor shall also place upon the assessment roll, in a separate column and opposite the name of each person assessed for personal property, the number of the school district in which such personal property is subject to taxation.

SB623,44 Section 44. 70.30 (intro.) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB623,20,21 70.30 Aggregate values. (intro.) Every For assessments made before January 1, 2022, every assessor shall ascertain and set down in separate columns prepared for that purpose on the assessment roll and opposite to the names of all persons assessed for personal property the number and value of the following named items of personal property assessed to such person, which shall constitute the assessed valuation of the several items of property therein described, to wit:

SB623,45 Section 45. 70.34 of the statutes is amended to read:

SB623,21,9 70.34 Personalty. All For assessments made before January 1, 2022, all articles of personal property shall, as far as practicable, be valued by the assessor upon actual view at their true cash value; and after arriving at the total valuation of all articles of personal property which the assessor shall be able to discover as belonging to any person, if the assessor has reason to believe that such person has other personal property or any other thing of value liable to taxation, the assessor shall add to such aggregate valuation of personal property an amount which, in the assessor's judgment, will render such aggregate valuation a just and equitable valuation of all the personal property liable to taxation belonging to such person. In carrying out the duties imposed on the assessor by this section, the assessor shall act in the manner specified in the Wisconsin property assessment manual provided under s. 73.03 (2a).

SB623,46 Section 46. 70.345 of the statutes is amended to read:

SB623,21,18 70.345 Legislative intent; department of revenue to supply information. The For assessments made before January 1, 2022, the assessor shall exercise particular care so that personal property as a class on the assessment rolls bears the same relation to statutory value as real property as a class. To assist the assessor in determining the true relationship between real estate and personal property the department of revenue shall make available to local assessors information including figures indicating the relationship between personal property and real property on the last assessment rolls.

SB623,47 Section 47. 70.35 (1) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB623,22,4 70.35 (1) To For assessments made before January 1, 2022, to determine the amount and value of any personal property for which any person, firm, or corporation should be assessed, any assessor may examine such person or the managing agent or officer of any firm or corporation under oath as to all such items of personal property, the taxable value thereof as defined in s. 70.34 if the property is taxable. In the alternative the assessor may require such person, firm, or corporation to submit a return of such personal property and of the taxable value thereof. There shall be annexed to such return the declaration of such person or of the managing agent or officer of such firm or corporation that the statements therein contained are true.

SB623,48 Section 48. 70.35 (2) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB623,22,16 70.35 (2) The For assessments made before January 1, 2022, the return shall be made and all the information therein requested given by such person on a form prescribed by the assessor with the approval of the department of revenue which shall provide suitable schedules for such information bearing on value as the department deems necessary to enable the assessor to determine the true cash value of the taxable personal property that is owned or in the possession of such person on January 1 as provided in s. 70.10. The return may contain methods of deriving assessable values from book values and for the conversion of book values to present values, and a statement as to the accounting method used. No person shall be required to take detailed physical inventory for the purpose of making the return required by this section.

SB623,49 Section 49. 70.35 (3) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB623,22,25 70.35 (3) Each For assessments made before January 1, 2022, each return shall be filed with the assessor on or before March 1 of the year in which the assessment provided by s. 70.10 is made. The assessor, for good cause, may allow a reasonable extension of time for filing the return. All returns filed under this section shall be the confidential records of the assessor's office, except that the returns shall be available for use before the board of review as provided in this chapter. No return required under this section is controlling on the assessor in any respect in the assessment of any property.

SB623,50 Section 50. 70.35 (4) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB623,23,8 70.35 (4) Any For assessments made before January 1, 2022, any person, firm or corporation who refuses to so testify or who fails, neglects or refuses to make and file the return of personal property required by this section shall be denied any right of abatement by the board of review on account of the assessment of such personal property unless such person, firm, or corporation shall make such return to such board of review together with a statement of the reasons for the failure to make and file the return in the manner and form required by this section.

SB623,51 Section 51. 70.35 (5) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB623,23,13 70.35 (5) In For assessments made before January 1, 2022, in the event that the assessor or the board of review should desire further evidence they may call upon other persons as witnesses to give evidence under oath as to the items and value of the personal property of any such person, firm or corporation.

SB623,52 Section 52. 70.36 (1) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB623,23,24 70.36 (1) Any For assessments made before January 1, 2022, any person in this state owning or holding any personal property that is subject to assessment, individually or as agent, trustee, guardian, personal representative, assignee, or receiver or in some other representative capacity, who intentionally makes a false statement to the assessor of that person's assessment district or to the board of review of the assessment district with respect to the property, or who omits any property from any return required to be made under s. 70.35, with the intent of avoiding the payment of the just and proportionate taxes on the property, shall forfeit the sum of $10 for every $100 or major fraction of $100 so withheld from the knowledge of the assessor or board of review.

SB623,53 Section 53. 70.36 (2) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB623,24,9 70.36 (2) It For assessments made before January 1, 2022, it is hereby made the duty of the district attorney of any county, upon complaint made to the district attorney by the assessor or by a member of the board of review of the assessment district in which it is alleged that property has been so withheld from the knowledge of such assessor or board of review, or not included in any return required by s. 70.35, to investigate the case forthwith and bring an action in the name of the state against the person, firm or corporation so complained of. All forfeitures collected under the provisions of this section shall be paid into the treasury of the taxation district in which such property had its situs for taxation.

SB623,54 Section 54. 70.43 (2) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB623,24,17 70.43 (2) If the assessor discovers a palpable error in the assessment of a tract of real estate or an item of personal property for personal property assessments made before January 1, 2022, that results in the tract or property having an inaccurate assessment for the preceding year, the assessor shall correct that error by adding to or subtracting from the assessment for the preceding year. The result shall be the true assessed value of the property for the preceding year. The assessor shall make a marginal note of the correction on that year's assessment roll.

SB623,55 Section 55. 70.44 (1) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB623,25,3 70.44 (1) Real or personal property omitted from assessment in any of the 2 next previous years or personal property assessments made before January 1, 2022 and omitted from any of the 2 next previous years, unless previously reassessed for the same year or years, shall be entered once additionally for each previous year of such omission, designating each such additional entry as omitted for the year of omission and affixing a just valuation to each entry for a former year as the same should then have been assessed according to the assessor's best judgment, and taxes shall be apportioned, using the net tax rate as provided in s. 70.43, and collected on the tax roll for such entry. This section shall not apply to manufacturing property assessed by the department of revenue under s. 70.995.

SB623,56 Section 56. 70.47 (7) (aa) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB623,25,9 70.47 (7) (aa) No person shall be allowed to appear before the board of review, to testify to the board by telephone or to contest the amount of any assessment of real or personal property if the person has refused a reasonable written request by certified mail of the assessor to enter onto property to conduct an exterior view of the real or personal property being assessed.

SB623,57 Section 57. 70.49 (2) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB623,25,15 70.49 (2) The value of all real and personal property entered into the assessment roll to which such affidavit is attached by the assessor shall, in all actions and proceedings involving such values, be presumptive evidence that all such properties have been justly and equitably assessed in proper relationship to each other.

SB623,58 Section 58. 70.50 of the statutes is amended to read:

SB623,25,25 70.50 Delivery of roll. Except in counties that have a county assessment system under s. 70.99 and in cities of the 1st class and in 2nd class cities that have a board of assessors under s. 70.075 the assessor shall, on or before the first Monday in May, deliver the completed assessment roll and all the sworn statements and valuations of personal property to the clerk of the town, city , or village, who shall file and preserve them in the clerk's office. On or before the first Monday in April, a county assessor under s. 70.99 shall deliver the completed assessment roll and all sworn statements and valuations of personal property to the clerks of the towns, cities, and villages in the county, who shall file and preserve them in the clerk's office.

SB623,59 Section 59. 70.52 of the statutes is amended to read:

SB623,26,13 70.52 Clerks to examine and correct rolls. Each city, village, and town clerk upon receipt of the assessment roll shall carefully examine the roll. The clerk shall correct all double assessments, imperfect descriptions, and other errors apparent on the roll, and correct the value of parcels of real property not liable to taxation. The clerk shall add to the roll any parcel of real property not listed on the assessment roll or item of personal property omitted from the roll and immediately notify the assessors of the additions and omissions. The assessors shall immediately view and value the omitted property and certify the valuation to the clerk. The clerk shall enter the valuation and property classification on the roll, and the valuation shall be final. To enable the clerk to properly correct defective descriptions, the clerk may request aid, when necessary, from the county surveyor, whose fees for the services rendered shall be paid by the city, village, or town.

SB623,60 Section 60. 70.53 (1) (a) of the statutes is repealed.

SB623,61 Section 61. 70.65 (2) (a) 2. of the statutes is amended to read:

SB623,26,18 70.65 (2) (a) 2. Identify For assessments made before January 1, 2022, identify the name and address of the owners of all taxable personal property within the taxation district and the assessed value of each owner's taxable personal property.

SB623,62 Section 62. 70.65 (2) (b) (intro.) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB623,26,22 70.65 (2) (b) (intro.) With respect to each description of real property and each owner of taxable personal property and the personal property assessments made before January 1, 2022:

SB623,63 Section 63. 70.68 (1) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB623,27,5 70.68 (1) Collection in certain cities. In For taxes levied before January 1, 2022, in cities authorized to act under s. 74.87, the chief of police shall collect all state, county, city, school, and other taxes due on personal property as shall then remain unpaid, and the chief of police shall possess all the powers given by law to town treasurers for the collection of such taxes, and be subject to the liabilities and entitled to the same fees as town treasurers in such cases, but such fees shall be turned over to the city treasurer and become a part of the general fund.

SB623,64 Section 64. 70.73 (1) (b) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB623,27,13 70.73 (1) (b) If a town, village, or city clerk or treasurer discovers that personal property has been assessed to the wrong person for assessments made before January 1, 2022, or 2 or more parcels of land belonging to different persons have been erroneously assessed together on the tax roll, the clerk or treasurer shall notify the assessor and all parties interested, if the parties are residents of the county, by notice in writing to appear at the clerk's office at some time, not less than 5 days thereafter, to correct the assessment roll.

SB623,65 Section 65. 70.73 (1) (c) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB623,27,20 70.73 (1) (c) At the time and place designated in the notice given under par. (b), the assessment roll shall be corrected by entering the correct names of the persons liable to assessment, both as to real and personal property, describing each parcel of land and giving the proper valuation to each parcel separately owned. The total valuation given to the separate tracts of real estate shall be equal to the valuation given to the same property when the several parcels were assessed together.

SB623,66 Section 66. 70.84 of the statutes is amended to read:

SB623,28,17 70.84 Inequalities may be corrected in subsequent year. If any such reassessment cannot be completed in time to take the place of the original assessment made in such district for said year, the clerk of the district shall levy and apportion the taxes for that year upon the basis of the original assessment roll, and when the reassessment is completed the inequalities in the taxes levied under the original assessment shall be remedied and compensated in the levy and apportionment of taxes in such district next following the completion of said reassessment in the following manner: Each tract of real estate, and, as to personal property assessments made before January 1, 2022, each taxpayer, whose tax shall be determined by such reassessment to have been relatively too high, shall be credited a sum equal to the amount of taxes charged on the original assessment in excess of the amount which would have been charged had such reassessment been made in time; and each tract of real estate, and, as to personal property assessments made before January 1, 2022, each taxpayer, whose tax shall be determined by such reassessment to have been relatively too low, shall be charged, in addition to all other taxes, a sum equal to the difference between the amount of taxes charged upon such unequal original assessment and the amount which would have been charged had such reassessment been made in time. The department of revenue, or its authorized agent, shall at any time have access to all assessment and tax rolls herein referred to for the purpose of assisting the local clerk and in order that the results of the reassessment may be carried into effect.

SB623,67 Section 67. 70.855 (1) (intro.) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB623,28,21 70.855 (1) Applicability. (intro.) The department of revenue shall assess real and personal property assessed as commercial property under s. 70.32 (2) (a) 2. if all of the following apply:

SB623,68 Section 68. 70.855 (1) (a) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB623,29,2 70.855 (1) (a) The property owner and the governing body of the municipality where the property is located submit a written request to the department on or before March 1 of the year of the assessment to have the department assess the property owner's real and personal commercial property located in the municipality.

SB623,69 Section 69. 70.855 (1) (b) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB623,29,5 70.855 (1) (b) The written request submitted under par. (a) specifies the items of personal property and parcels of real property for the department's assessment.

SB623,70 Section 70. 70.995 (1) (a) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB623,29,22 70.995 (1) (a) In this section “manufacturing property" includes all lands, buildings, structures and other real property, as defined in s. 70.03, used in manufacturing, assembling, processing, fabricating, making or milling tangible personal property for profit. Manufacturing property also includes warehouses, storage facilities, and office structures when the predominant use of the warehouses, storage facilities, or offices is in support of the manufacturing property, and all personal property owned or used by any person engaged in this state in any of the activities mentioned, and used in the activity, including raw materials, supplies, machinery, equipment, work in process and finished inventory when located at the site of the activity production process, as defined in s. 70.11 (27) (a) 5. Establishments engaged in assembling component parts of manufactured products are considered manufacturing establishments if the new product is neither a structure nor other fixed improvement. Materials processed by a manufacturing establishment include products of agriculture, forestry, fishing, mining, and quarrying. For the purposes of this section, establishments which engage in mining metalliferous minerals are considered manufacturing establishments.

SB623,71 Section 71. 70.995 (3) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB623,30,4 70.995 (3) For purposes of subs. (1) and (2) “manufacturing, assembling, processing, fabricating, making or milling" includes the entire productive process and includes such activities as the storage of raw materials, the movement thereof to the first operation thereon, and the packaging, bottling, crating , or similar preparation of products for shipment when located at the site of the production process, as defined in s. 70.11 (27) (a) 5.

SB623,72 Section 72. 70.995 (4) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB623,30,24 70.995 (4) Whenever real property or tangible personal property is used for one, or some combination, of the processes mentioned in sub. (3) and also for other purposes, the department of revenue, if satisfied that there is substantial use in one or some combination of such processes, may assess the property under this section. For all purposes of this section the department of revenue shall have sole discretion for the determination of what is substantial use and what description of real property or what unit of tangible personal property shall constitute “the property" to be included for assessment purposes, and, in connection herewith, the department may include in a real property unit, real property owned by different persons. Vacant property designed for use in manufacturing, assembling, processing, fabricating, making, or milling tangible property for profit may be assessed under this section or under s. 70.32 (1), and the period of vacancy may not be the sole ground for making that determination. In those specific instances where a portion of a description of real property includes manufacturing property rented or leased and operated by a separate person which does not satisfy the substantial use qualification for the entire property, the local assessor shall assess the entire real property description and all personal property not exempt under s. 70.11 (27). The applicable portions of the standard manufacturing property report form under sub. (12) as they relate to manufacturing machinery and equipment shall be submitted by such person.

SB623,73 Section 73. 70.995 (5) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB623,31,10 70.995 (5) The department of revenue shall assess all property of manufacturing establishments included under subs. (1) and (2) as of the close of January 1 of each year, if on or before March 1 of that year the department has classified the property as manufacturing or the owner of the property has requested, in writing, that the department make such a classification and the department later does so. A change in ownership, location, or name of the manufacturing establishment does not necessitate a new request. In assessing lands from which metalliferous minerals are being extracted and valued for purposes of the tax under s. 70.375, the value of the metalliferous mineral content of such lands shall be excluded.

SB623,74 Section 74. 70.995 (5n) of the statutes is created to read:

SB623,31,16 70.995 (5n) (a) If the department of revenue determines that an establishment is engaged in manufacturing, as defined in subs. (1), (2), and (3), the department may classify the establishment as manufacturing. The establishment shall submit a written request on or before July 1 of the year for which classification is desired, as provided under s. 71.07 (5n) (a) 9. c. or 71.28 (5n) (a) 9. c.

SB623,31,20 (b) The department may at any time investigate or audit requests submitted under par. (a) and may revoke a classification. An establishment that submits a request under par. (a) shall notify the department within 60 days of any termination of manufacturing activity.

SB623,32,4 (c) On or before December 31 of the year in which a request is timely submitted under par. (a), the department shall issue a notice of determination responding to the timely request. The department may, in its sole discretion, issue a notice of determination by December 31 for requests received after July 1 of the year in which classification is desired. The notice shall be in writing and shall be sent by 1st class mail or electronic mail. In addition, the notice shall specify that objections to the decision shall be filed with the state board of assessors no later than 60 days after the date of the notice, that a fee of $200 shall be paid when the objection is filed, and that the objection is not filed until the fee is paid.