Chapter 75

75.54 Annotation The court erred in ordering an area reassessment without holding a hearing under sub. (1). State ex rel. Hemker v. Huggett, 114 Wis. 2d 320, 338 N.W.2d 335 (Ct. App. 1983).

75.55 75.55 Application of section 75.54. Section 75.54 shall be construed to permit the reassessment, by or under the direction or authority of any city, of the property, real and personal, therein, which city, before and until the passage of these statutes, was authorized by law to make its own tax sales, tax certificates and tax deeds by its own proper officers. And in and for and in respect to every such city and the property, real and personal, therein the mayor and council thereof, the assessors thereof, the city clerk thereof, the board of equalization thereof, and the city treasurer thereof shall, as to any such city and the wards therein, respectively exercise all the powers and perform all the duties and proceed in the manner hereinbefore provided in respect to towns, villages and other cities, and exercise the powers and perform the duties devolved upon the board of supervisors, upon the assessors, upon the town clerk, upon the board of review and upon the town treasurer, respectively, for the reassessment of taxes and the collection thereof.

75.61 75.61 Actions related to tax certificates.

75.61(1) (1) One-year limitation. Every action enumerated in s. 75.57, 1955 stats., and s. 66.0731, and every action or proceeding to set aside any inclusion of land in a tax certificate for the nonpayment of taxes, or to cancel any tax certificate, or to restrain the issuing of any tax certificate, or tax deed, for any error or defect going to the validity of the assessment, and affecting the groundwork of such tax, or on account of any void or defective special assessment, shall be commenced within one year from the date of issuance of the tax certificate under s. 74.57, and not thereafter. In every action brought to set aside any such inclusion of land in a tax certificate, or to cancel any tax certificate, or to restrain the issuing of any tax deed upon any ground whatever not going to the validity of the assessment and affecting the groundwork of such tax, special assessment, special charge or special tax, the plaintiff, if he or she shows himself or herself otherwise entitled to judgment, shall, before the entry thereof within a reasonable time to be fixed by the court, pay into the court for the county or city authorized to act under s. 74.87 holding the tax certificate the amount for which such land is delinquent, with interest on all such amounts at the rate of 8 percent per year from the times of payment until the money is paid into court; and in default of such payment within the time so fixed the defendant shall have judgment in the action. This provision as to the payment into court to be made by the plaintiff shall apply to all actions brought to cancel any tax deed, or to remove the cloud upon any title created by any tax certificate or tax deed where the action impeaches the tax deed or tax certificate upon any grounds whatever not affecting the groundwork of the tax for the nonpayment of which such deed or tax certificate was issued.

75.61(2) (2) Tax certificates of county, discount on. Whenever the county holds tax certificates upon real estate and the owner of said real estate or any person, firm, association, corporation or limited liability company holding a valid lien thereon shall claim the assessment of said real estate to be greater than the value that can ordinarily be obtained therefor at private sale, the respective town board, village board or city council where said real estate is situated may take proof under oath of the value of said real estate and make a finding thereon. Upon the filing of said finding with the county treasurer, the treasurer shall accept from said owner or lienholder the proper proportional tax on said real estate based upon the value so found, together with the proper charges, as in the case of redemption of tax certificates, shall cancel said tax certificate as it relates to that real estate, and shall give to said owner or lienholder a receipt for said tax. The difference between the tax as returned and the amount of such proportional tax, exclusive of charges, received by the county as a result of the compromise shall be charged to the town, village or city which returned the same and may be included by the county as a special charge in the next tax levy against such town, city or village.

75.61 History History: 1979 c. 110; 1987 a. 378; 1993 a. 112; 1999 a. 150 s. 672.

75.62 75.62 Procedure in actions related to tax certificates.

75.62(1) (1) Conditional payment. Whenever any action or special proceeding is hereafter commenced to set aside any inclusion of lands in a tax certificate for the nonpayment of taxes, or to cancel any tax certificate, or to restrain the issuing of any tax certificate or tax deed, or to set aside any tax, for any error or defect going to the validity of the assessment and affecting the groundwork of such tax, within 20 days after the commencement of such action the plaintiff in such action or special proceeding shall pay or cause to be paid to the county, town, city, or village officer entitled to receive the same, the amount of taxes, interest and charges levied against the said lands involved in such action, as a condition of maintaining said action.

75.62(2) (2) Reassessment; proceeding. If in said action or proceeding a reassessment is ordered, the court shall, upon the completion of said reassessment made in the manner required by statute, determine the amount which, according to said reassessment, the plaintiff ought justly to have paid upon the lands involved in said action or special proceeding.

75.62(3) (3) Judgment. The plaintiff in such action or special proceeding shall be entitled to recover judgment for the amount, if any, the plaintiff so paid in excess of the amount the court shall finally determine the plaintiff ought to have paid on the lands involved in said action or proceeding, with interest from the date of such payment.

75.62(4) (4) Payment of judgment. Payment of any judgment so recovered by the plaintiff, shall be made forthwith by the treasurer of any such county, town, city or village, upon presentation of a certified copy thereof, without other or further order. The treasurer shall preserve said copy of said judgment as the treasurer’s warrant for such payment and shall require the satisfaction of record of said judgment upon the making of such payment. The amount of any judgment so paid by the county treasurer shall be charged to the proper town, city or village and may be included by the county as a special charge against such town, city or village if such judgment shall be the result of an error or defect caused by said town, city or village or official thereof.

75.62 History History: 1987 a. 378; 1989 a. 56; 1991 a. 316.

75.63 75.63 Ejectment as to public lands; conditions.

75.63(1) (1) 

75.63(1)(a) (a) No action may be commenced, maintained or prosecuted by or on behalf of the original owner or any person claiming title through or under the original owner to recover possession of or in any way involving the title to any lands conveyed to this state by any county, or attempted to be so conveyed, and sold by this state to any person until all of the following have been paid into the treasury of the county where the lands are located:

75.63(1)(a)1. 1. All taxes levied and assessed on the lands from the date of the sale of the lands by the state.

75.63(1)(a)2. 2. All legal charges for assessing and collecting the taxes described in subd. 1, and interest thereon at the rate of 8 percent per year from the January 15 in each year during which the lands were assessed, commencing with the January following the first assessment after the sale.

75.63(1)(a)3. 3. All delinquent taxes levied upon and returned against the lands that were unpaid when the lands were conveyed or attempted to be conveyed to the state, together with interest on those delinquent taxes at the rate and in the manner described in subd. 2.

75.63(1)(b) (b) All money paid into a county treasury under par. (a) shall be retained in the treasury pending the conclusion of the action described in par. (a) (intro.). The money shall be returned to the party paying or depositing the money if the party fails to maintain the action. If the action is maintained, an amount equal to the delinquent taxes and interest described in par. (a) shall be retained by the county. The remainder shall be paid over to the person purchasing the lands from the state or that person’s legal representatives.

75.63(2) (2) If the title to any such lands shall be adjudged to be in such original owner or party claiming title through or under the original owner they shall be deemed to be and shall be subject to taxation during the time the same were held by the state in like manner as if they had not been conveyed to or held by it, and the taxes for such period shall be levied and assessed upon such lands and collected in like manner as other taxes upon real estate. In all such actions the court shall enter an order requiring the plaintiff therein, within a reasonable time to be fixed in the order, to comply with this section by payment of the taxes, charges and interest as provided herein, and in default of compliance therewith the court shall dismiss the action. Nothing herein contained shall be construed as amending or repealing s. 75.26, 75.27 or 75.61.

75.63 History History: 1973 c. 189; 1977 c. 29 s. 1646 (3); 1977 c. 273; 1979 c. 110 s. 60 (13); 1991 a. 316; 1997 a. 253; 2005 a. 253.

75.64 75.64 No jurisdiction; issue of deed postponed; deposit.

75.64(1) (1) In all cases to set aside any inclusion of lands in a tax certificate, or to cancel any tax certificate or to enjoin or restrain the issuing of a tax deed because the lands included in the certificate were not liable to taxation or because the taxes on the lands were paid prior to the inclusion in the tax certificate or because the lands have been redeemed according to law, the owner of, or any person interested in, the lands covered by the lien of the certificate may, at any time before final judgment is entered, deposit with the county clerk the amount for which the lands are delinquent, with interest from the date of the inclusion in the tax certificate to the date of the deposit and penalty as provided under s. 74.47, together with the legal charges on it.

75.64(2) (2) The clerk or treasurer shall retain such deposit until the final determination of the action, and if the certificate is vacated and set aside or if the issuing of the deed is permanently restrained, the money deposited shall, at the time of entry of judgment or at any later time, upon demand, be returned to the person depositing it. If final judgment is rendered in the action sustaining the validity of the inclusion of the land in a tax certificate, and of the tax certificate, the court shall compute the interest upon the certificate from the date of the deposit to the date of judgment and penalty as provided under s. 74.47 and add it to the costs and disbursements taxable in the action and to the amount of the deposit, and shall enter judgment against the plaintiff for the total amount, and no tax deed may be issued upon the certificate unless the plaintiff fails to pay to the clerk or treasurer, for the use of the owner of the certificate, the amount of the judgment within 20 days after its rendition, together with interest on it.

75.64 History History: 1981 c. 167; 1987 a. 378.

75.67 75.67 Procedure in populous counties containing authorized city.

75.67(1) (1) In counties having a population of 750,000 or more containing a city authorized to proceed under s. 74.87, whenever either such county or city acquires any property by tax deed or by quitclaim deed or by any other means, the issuance of other tax certificates and the redemption and cancellation thereof shall be as provided by this section.

75.67(2) (2) All tax certificates issued upon such property by such county or city on the same day or subsequent to the date of issuance of the certificate upon which such deed was acquired, and which certificates are owned by such county or city at the time of the acquisition of the property, shall be assigned to such county or city so owning such property. On any issuance of tax certificate subsequent to the acquisition of such property after the first Monday of August in any year, such county or city so owning such land shall be the exclusive recipient of the tax certificates. Any issuance of a tax certificate in violation of these provisions shall be null and void. It is the duty of the city and the county treasurer to give the other, as the case may be, written notice of the acquisition of such property within 24 hours, Sundays and holidays excluded, after such tax deed or other conveyance has been acquired; and upon receipt of such notice it is the duty of such treasurer, as the case may be, to make entry of such notice upon the treasurer’s records.

75.67(3) (3) 

75.67(3)(a) (a) Whenever such property has been so acquired, the city treasurer shall notify the county clerk and the county treasurer, or the county clerk shall notify the city treasurer, as the case may be, in writing thereof within 24 hours thereafter, Sundays and holidays excluded. The county treasurer or the city treasurer upon receipt of such notice shall forthwith charge the amount, without interest or penalties, of all city, county, state and metropolitan sewerage district current and delinquent taxes, all unpaid installments of special assessments and other assessments, charges and tax certificates which are liens upon the land, and which are held by or due to such county or city, as the case may be, and upon which the time limitations of s. 75.20 have not expired, to a “tax deed in force” account, and such taxes, assessments and certificates shall thereby be considered as paid or redeemed and such taxes shall be marked paid or redeemed on the tax roll, as the case may be; thereafter the amounts thereof owned by or due to such county shall be charged back against such city and such amounts thereof owned or held by or due to such city shall be credited to such city in the next tax levy upon such city by the county.

75.67(3)(b) (b) On or before October 1 of each year, the city treasurer and the county treasurer shall respectively furnish the other with an itemized statement of the amounts so charged by the treasurer, as the case may be, to the city’s or county’s “tax deed in force” account as a result of tax deeds taken by the city or county. The county clerk shall include an itemized statement of such amounts in the apportionment filed by the clerk. If any such tax deed is set aside, the city treasurer and the county treasurer shall respectively credit the other with the amounts so charged with respect to the deed set aside, and the amounts and entries by either treasurer with reference thereto, comprising said amounts shall be as though no charge had been made to a “tax deed in force” account; and the city treasurer and the county treasurer, respectively, shall, on or before October 1 of each year, advise the other of such credits due.

75.67(3)(c) (c) In the event that such property is so acquired by such city while the county tax roll is in the possession of its city treasurer, the latter shall consider such taxes as paid and mark the tax roll accordingly, and furnish the county treasurer with a statement thereof upon a form provided by the county. The city treasurer shall return such records to the county treasurer with the delinquent county tax roll, and shall receive credit therefor the same as for delinquent taxes. The amount for which such credit is given shall be included in the amount to be charged back to such city in succeeding apportionment of county taxes.

75.67 History History: 1985 a. 135; 1987 a. 27, 378; 2017 a. 207 s. 5.

75.69 75.69 Sale of tax delinquent real estate.

75.69(1) (1) Except as provided in sub. (1m), no tax delinquent real estate acquired by a county may be sold unless the sale and appraised value of such real estate has first been advertised by publishing on the county’s website and either by publication of a class 1 notice, under ch. 985, or by advertising on a multiple listing service, no later than 240 days after the county acquires the property or, beginning in 2026, no later than 180 days after the county acquires the property. Any county may accept the bid most advantageous to it but, at the first attempt to sell the property, every bid less than the appraised value of the property shall be rejected. Any county is authorized to sell for any amount any land previously advertised for sale after advertising the sale of such land by publication of a class 1 notice, under ch. 985; except that no property may be sold for an amount that is less than the property’s appraised value unless the county board or a committee designated by the county board has reviewed and approved such a sale and no property may be sold for an amount that is less than the amount of the highest bid unless the county board or a committee designated by the county board prepares a written statement, available for public inspection, that explains the reasons for accepting a bid that is less than the highest bid. In this subsection, “appraised value” means the value determined, at the discretion of the county board, by the county board, a committee designated by the county board, or a certified appraiser, as defined in s. 458.01 (7).

75.69(1m) (1m) 

75.69(1m)(am) (am)

75.69(1m)(am)1. 1. Except as provided in subd. 2. and par. (an), if a property is located in a county with a population of 750,000 or more, the county shall advertise the sale of tax delinquent real estate by publishing on the county’s website and either by publication of a class 1 notice, under ch. 985, or by advertising on a multiple listing service, no later than 36 months after the day on which the county acquires the property, if the property meets any of the of the following criteria:

75.69(1m)(am)1.a. a. The property is a vacant lot.

75.69(1m)(am)1.b. b. The property is residential property occupied by a person with a valid ownership or leasehold interest in the property at the time of foreclosure but is not a single-family, owner-occupied residence.

75.69(1m)(am)1.c. c. The property is eligible for a redemption or sale-back process authorized by s. 75.35 (3), and set by local ordinance.

75.69(1m)(am)1.d. d. The property qualifies for a raze order under s. 66.0413.

75.69(1m)(am)1.e. e. The county has estimated a cost of repair that exceeds 50 percent of the property’s assessed value in the year of the county’s acquisition.

75.69(1m)(am)1.f. f. The delinquent property taxes, fees, interest, penalties, and other costs under s. 75.36 (3) (a) exceed 75 percent of the property’s assessed value in the year of the county’s acquisition.

75.69(1m)(am)1.g. g. The county has reason to believe the property is a brownfield pursuant to s. 238.13 (1) (a).

75.69(1m)(am)1.h. h. The property is subject to s. 75.106.

75.69(1m)(am)2. 2. For purposes of this paragraph, the sale of a single-family, owner-occupied residence is subject to the 240-day and 180-day notice requirements under sub. (1), unless the residence meets the criteria under subd. 1. d. to h.

75.69(1m)(an) (an) With regard to property located in a county with a population of 750,000 or more and obtained by foreclosure prior to March 24, 2024, the county shall attempt to sell such property no later than March 24, 2034. If any such property remains unsold after the expiration of that 10-year period, the county shall advertise the sale of the property by publishing on the county’s website and either by publication of a class 1 notice, under ch. 985, or by advertising on a multiple listing service, no later than 180 days after the expiration of that 10-year period, regardless of the property type.

75.69(1m)(b) (b) Notwithstanding sub. (1), any county may advertise the sale of any or all of its real estate that has been tax delinquent for at least 4 years by publishing a class 3 notice under ch. 985, indicating in which municipality or municipalities and in which ward or wards the real estate is located and the place and date for filing written bids but without listing specific parcels or appraised values for the parcels, if the county makes readily available in the courthouse a list of the parcels and the appraised value of each parcel.

75.69(1n) (1n) A county may petition the circuit court that handled the initial tax foreclosure under this chapter for relief from any of the provisions, including the deadlines imposed under sub. (1) or (1m), for cause, for a specific property, if that petition is filed no later than the applicable deadline for publishing notice under sub. (1) or (1m).

75.69(2) (2) This section shall not apply to withdrawal and sale of county forest lands, nor to the sale or exchange of lands to or between municipalities or to the state.

75.69(3) (3) This section shall apply to all tax delinquent lands regardless of the date of acquisition by the county.

75.69(4) (4) No tax delinquent real estate may be sold by a county under this section unless notice of such sale is mailed to the clerk of the municipality in which the real estate is located at least 3 weeks prior to the time of the sale. Any county may sell tax delinquent real estate by open or closed bid.

75.69 History History: 1983 a. 344; 1987 a. 378; 1995 a. 201; 2003 a. 123; 2017 a. 207 s. 5; 2023 a. 207; s. 35.17 correction in (1m) (am) 1. (intro.), c.

75.69 Annotation When a county proceeds under sub. (1), it can accept a bid it considers, in good faith, to be most advantageous to the county in view of the criteria in the bid notice. 70 Atty. Gen. 1.