AB43: Bill Text

AB43,,3316 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.

AB43,1308 Section 1308. 70.27 (3) (a) of the statutes is amended to read:

AB43,,3318 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.

AB43,1309 Section 1309. 70.27 (4) of the statutes is amended to read:

AB43,,3320 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.

AB43,1310 Section 1310. 70.27 (5) of the statutes is amended to read:

AB43,,3322 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.

AB43,1311 Section 1311. 70.27 (7) (b) of the statutes is amended to read:

AB43,,3324 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.

AB43,1312 Section 1312. 70.29 of the statutes is amended to read:

AB43,,3326 70.29 Personalty, how entered. The For assessments made before January 1, 2024, 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.

AB43,1313 Section 1313. 70.30 (intro.) of the statutes is amended to read:

AB43,,3328 70.30 Aggregate values. (intro.) Every For assessments made before January 1, 2024, 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:

AB43,1314 Section 1314. 70.32 (1) of the statutes is amended to read:

AB43,,3330 70.32 (1) Real property shall be valued by the assessor in the manner specified in the Wisconsin property assessment manual provided under s. 73.03 (2a) at its highest and best use from actual view or from the best information that the assessor can practicably obtain, at the full value which could ordinarily be obtained therefor at private sale. In determining the value, the assessor shall consider recent arm’s-length sales of the property to be assessed if according to professionally acceptable appraisal practices those sales conform to recent arm’s-length sales of reasonably comparable property; recent arm’s-length sales of reasonably comparable property; and all factors that, according to professionally acceptable appraisal practices, affect the value of the property to be assessed. In this subsection, “arm’s-length sale” means a sale between a willing buyer and willing seller, neither being under compulsion to buy or sell and each being familiar with the attributes of the property sold. In this subsection, “highest and best use” means the specific current use of the property or a higher use for which the property may be used as of the current assessment date, if the property is marketable for that use and the use is legally permissible, physically possible, not highly speculative, and financially feasible and provides the highest net return. When the current use of a property is the highest and best use of that property, value in the current use equals full market value. In this subsection, “legally permissible” does not include a conditional use that has not been granted as of the assessment date.

AB43,1315 Section 1315. 70.32 (1b) of the statutes is created to read:

AB43,,3332 70.32 (1b) In determining the value of real property under sub. (1), the assessor may consider, as part of the valuation under sub. (1), any lease provisions and actual rent pertaining to a property and affecting its value, including the lease provisions and rent associated with a sale and leaseback of the property, if all such lease provisions and rent are the result of an arm’s-length transaction involving persons who are not related in any of the ways specified under section 267 (b) of the Internal Revenue Code for the year of the transaction. The assessor shall reconcile the results of such consideration with the professionally acceptable appraisal practices regarding reasonably comparable sales, the cost approach, and other methods specified in the Wisconsin property assessment manual provided under s. 73.03 (2a). In this subsection, an “arm’s-length transaction” means an agreement between willing parties, neither being under compulsion to act and each being familiar with the attributes of the property.

AB43,1316 Section 1316. 70.32 (1d) of the statutes is created to read:

AB43,,3334 70.32 (1d) (a) To determine the value of property using generally accepted appraisal methods, the assessor shall consider all of the following as comparable to the property being assessed:

AB43,,3335 1. Sales or rentals of properties exhibiting the same or a similar highest and best use with placement in the same real estate market segment.

AB43,,3336 2. Sales or rentals of properties that are similar to the property being assessed with regard to age, condition, use, type of construction, location, design, physical features, and economic characteristics, including similarities in occupancy and the the potential to generate rental income. For purposes of this subdivision, such properties may be found locally, regionally, or nationally.

AB43,,3337 (b) For purposes of par. (a), a property is not comparable if any of the following applies:

AB43,,3338 1. At or before the time of sale, the seller places any deed restriction on the property that changes the highest and best use of the property, or prohibits competition, so that it no longer qualifies as a comparable property under par. (a) 1. or 2. and the property being assessed lacks such a restriction.

AB43,,3339 2. The property is dark property and the property being assessed is not dark property. In this subdivision, “dark property” means property that is vacant or unoccupied beyond the normal period for property in the same real estate market segment. For purposes of this subdivision, what is considered vacant or unoccupied beyond the normal period may vary depending on the property location.

AB43,,3340 (c) For purposes of par. (a), “highest and best use” has the meaning given in s. 70.32 (1).

AB43,,3341 (d) For purposes of par. (a), “real estate market segment” means a pool of potential buyers and sellers that typically buy or sell properties similar to the property being assessed, including potential buyers who are investors or owner-occupants. For purposes of this paragraph, and depending on the type of property being assessed, the pool of potential buyers and sellers may be found locally, regionally, nationally, or internationally.

AB43,1317 Section 1317. 70.34 of the statutes is amended to read:

AB43,,3343 70.34 Personalty. All For assessments made before January 1, 2024, 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).

AB43,1318 Section 1318. 70.345 of the statutes is amended to read:

AB43,,3345 70.345 Legislative intent; department of revenue to supply information. The For assessments made before January 1, 2024, 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.

AB43,1319 Section 1319. 70.35 (1) of the statutes is amended to read:

AB43,,3347 70.35 (1) To For assessments made before January 1, 2024, 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.

AB43,1320 Section 1320. 70.35 (2) of the statutes is amended to read:

AB43,,3349 70.35 (2) The For assessments made before January 1, 2024, 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.

AB43,1321 Section 1321. 70.35 (3) of the statutes is amended to read:

AB43,,3351 70.35 (3) Each For assessments made before January 1, 2024, 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.

AB43,1322 Section 1322. 70.35 (4) of the statutes is amended to read:

AB43,,3353 70.35 (4) Any For assessments made before January 1, 2024, 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.

AB43,1323 Section 1323. 70.35 (5) of the statutes is amended to read:

AB43,,3355 70.35 (5) In For assessments made before January 1, 2024, 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.

AB43,1324 Section 1324. 70.36 (1) of the statutes is amended to read:

AB43,,3357 70.36 (1) Any For assessments made before January 1, 2024, 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.

AB43,1325 Section 1325. 70.36 (2) of the statutes is amended to read:

AB43,,3359 70.36 (2) It For assessments made before January 1, 2024, 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.

AB43,1326 Section 1326. 70.43 (2) of the statutes is amended to read:

AB43,,3361 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, 2024, 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.

AB43,1327 Section 1327. 70.44 (1) of the statutes is amended to read:

AB43,,3363 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, 2024, 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.

AB43,1328 Section 1328. 70.47 (7) (aa) of the statutes is amended to read:

AB43,,3365 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.

AB43,1329 Section 1329. 70.47 (8) (intro.) of the statutes is amended to read:

AB43,,3367 70.47 (8) Hearing. (intro.) The board shall hear upon oath all persons who appear before it in relation to the assessment. Instead of appearing in person at the hearing, the board may allow the property owner, or the property owner’s representative, at the request of either person, to appear before the board, under oath, by telephone or to submit written statements, under oath, to the board. The board shall hear upon oath, by telephone, all ill or disabled persons who present to the board a letter from a physician, physician assistant, or advanced practice registered nurse prescriber certified under s. 441.16 (2) licensed under ch. 441 that confirms their illness or disability. At the request of the property owner or the property owner’s representative, the board may postpone and reschedule a hearing under this subsection, but may not postpone and reschedule a hearing more than once during the same session for the same property. The board at such hearing shall proceed as follows:

AB43,1330 Section 1330. 70.49 (2) of the statutes is amended to read:

AB43,,3369 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.

AB43,1331 Section 1331. 70.50 of the statutes is amended to read:

AB43,,3371 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.

AB43,1332 Section 1332. 70.52 of the statutes is amended to read:

AB43,,3373 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.

AB43,1333 Section 1333. 70.53 (1) (a) of the statutes is repealed.

AB43,1334 Section 1334. 70.65 (2) (a) 2. of the statutes is amended to read:

AB43,,3376 70.65 (2) (a) 2. Identify For assessments made before January 1, 2024, 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.

AB43,1335 Section 1335. 70.65 (2) (b) (intro.) of the statutes is amended to read:

AB43,,3378 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, 2024:

AB43,1336 Section 1336. 70.68 (1) of the statutes is amended to read:

AB43,,3380 70.68 (1) Collection in certain cities. In For taxes levied before January 1, 2024, 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.

AB43,1337 Section 1337. 70.73 (1) (b) of the statutes is amended to read:

AB43,,3382 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, 2024, 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.

AB43,1338 Section 1338. 70.73 (1) (c) of the statutes is amended to read:

AB43,,3384 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.

AB43,1339 Section 1339. 70.84 of the statutes is amended to read:

AB43,,3386 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, 2024, 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, 2024, 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.

AB43,1340 Section 1340. 70.855 (1) (intro.) of the statutes is amended to read:

AB43,,3388 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:

AB43,1341 Section 1341. 70.855 (1) (a) of the statutes is amended to read:

AB43,,3390 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.

AB43,1342 Section 1342. 70.855 (1) (b) of the statutes is amended to read:

AB43,,3392 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.

AB43,1343 Section 1343. 70.995 (1) (a) of the statutes is amended to read:

AB43,,3394 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.

AB43,1344 Section 1344. 70.995 (3) of the statutes is amended to read:

AB43,,3396 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.

AB43,1345 Section 1345. 70.995 (4) of the statutes is amended to read:

AB43,,3398 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.

AB43,1346 Section 1346. 70.995 (5) of the statutes is amended to read:

AB43,,3400 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.

AB43,1347 Section 1347. 70.995 (5n) of the statutes is created to read:

AB43,,3402 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.

AB43,,3403 (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.

AB43,,3404 (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.