Chapter 74, PROPERTY TAX COLLECTION

74.01 Definitions. In this chapter: (1) “General property taxes” means taxes levied upon general property, as defined in s. 70.02, and measured by the property’s value. (2) “Proportionate share of general property taxes”, for any taxing jurisdiction, means the amount resulting fr…

74.03 Delivery of tax rolls. (1) Except as provided in sub. (2), the clerk of the taxation district shall transfer the tax roll, prepared under s. 70.65, to the treasurer of the taxation district by December 8. (2) The clerk of the taxation district shall transfer the tax roll, p…

74.05 Correction of tax roll information. (1) DEFINITION. In this section, “error in the tax roll” means an error in the description of any real or personal property, in the identification of the owner or person to whom the property is assessed or in the amount of the tax or an e…

74.07 Treasurers responsible for collection. The taxation district treasurer and the county treasurer shall collect the general property taxes, special assessments, special taxes and special charges shown in the tax roll. History: 1987 a. 378.

74.09 Property tax bill and related information. (1) DEFINITION. In this section, “estimated fair market value” means a property’s assessed value divided by the assessment ratio of all of the taxable property in the taxation district where the property is located. (2) PREPARATION…

74.10 Agreements on payments. A county and a taxation district in that county may contract under s. 66.0301 for the county to receive all payments of property taxes for which the taxation district has sent bills under s. 74.09. A contract under this section may provide for reimbu…

74.11 Dates for payment of taxes, special assessments and special charges. (1) APPLICABILITY. General property taxes, special assessments, special charges and special taxes collectible under this chapter are payable as provided in this section, except as provided in ss. 74.12, 74…

74.12 Multiple installments payment option. (1) AUTHORITY. (a) The governing body of any taxation district, except a taxation district under s. 74.87, may, by ordinance, authorize the payment of taxes on real property and improvements on leased land or special assessments or both…

74.125 Public depositories. The taxation district treasurer or county treasurer, as appropriate, may designate one or more public depositories, among those previously designated under s. 34.05, to which taxpayers may make payments under ss. 74.11 and 74.12. A receipt for such pay…

74.13 Taxes paid in advance of levy. (1) TREASURER SHALL ACCEPT. The taxation district treasurer shall accept payment of general property taxes, special assessments, special charges and special taxes in advance of the tax levy, subject to the following: (a) General property taxes…

74.15 Payment of real property taxes by grantor and grantee. If real property is conveyed and there is no valid written agreement between the grantor and the grantee concerning the payment of real property taxes for the year in which the conveyance is made, the grantor shall pay …

74.19 Tax receipts. The county clerk, unless a different official is designated by the county board, shall procure and furnish tax receipts, prescribed under s. 70.09 (3), to each taxation district treasurer in the county. The taxation district treasurer shall use the tax receipt…

74.21 Notification of payment of taxes from escrowed funds. If a person other than the property owner pays to a taxation district or county, from an escrow account funded by the property owner, the real property taxes levied against owner-occupied residential property containing …

74.23 January settlement. (1) SETTLEMENT. On or before January 15, the treasurer of each taxation district, except the treasurer of a city authorized to act under s. 74.87, shall settle for all collections received through the last day of the preceding month as follows: (a) Speci…

74.25 February settlement. (1) SETTLEMENT. On or before February 20, the taxation district treasurer, except the treasurer of a city authorized to proceed under s. 74.87 or the treasurer of a taxation district that has adopted an ordinance under s. 74.12, shall settle for all col…

74.27 March settlement between counties and the state. On or before March 15, the county treasurer shall send to the secretary of administration the state’s proportionate shares of taxes under ss. 74.23 (1) (b) and 74.25 (1) (b) 1. and 2. History: 1991 a. 39; 2003 a. 33.

74.29 August settlement. (1) On or before August 20, the county treasurer shall pay in full to the proper treasurer all real property taxes, including taxes offset by the credit under s. 79.10 (5), and special taxes included in the tax roll which have not previously been paid to,…

74.30 Settlement in certain taxation districts. The treasurer of a taxation district which has enacted an ordinance under s. 74.12 shall settle under this section. (1) FEBRUARY SETTLEMENT. On or before February 20, the taxation district treasurer shall do all of the following: (a…

74.31 Failure to settle timely. If the taxation district treasurer or county treasurer does not settle as required under ss. 74.23 to 74.30: (1) INTEREST CHARGE. The taxation district or county which has not settled shall pay 12 percent annual interest on the amount not timely pa…

74.315 Omitted property. (1) SUBMISSION. No later than October 1 of each year, the taxation district clerk shall submit to the department of revenue, on a form prescribed by the department, a listing of all the omitted taxes under s. 70.44 to be included on the taxation district’…

74.33 Sharing and charging back of taxes due to palpable errors. (1) GROUNDS. After the tax roll has been delivered to the treasurer of the taxation district under s. 74.03, the governing body of the taxation district may refund or rescind in whole or in part any general property…

74.35 Recovery of unlawful taxes. (1) DEFINITIONS. In this section “unlawful tax” means a general property tax with respect to which one or more errors specified in s. 74.33 (1) (a) to (f) were made. “Unlawful tax” does not include a tax in respect to which the alleged defect is …

74.37 Claim on excessive assessment. (1) DEFINITION. In this section, a “claim for an excessive assessment” or an “action for an excessive assessment” means a claim or action, respectively, by an aggrieved person to recover that amount of general property tax imposed because the …

74.39 Court-ordered reassessment. (1) COURT MAY ORDER. Except as provided in sub. (3), in any action under s. 74.35 (3) or 74.37 (3), if the court determines that a reassessment of the property upon which the taxes were paid is necessary, the court, before entering judgment, shal…

74.41 Charging back refunded or rescinded taxes; sharing certain collected taxes. (1) SUBMISSION OF REFUNDED OR RESCINDED TAXES TO DEPARTMENT. By October 1 of each year, the clerk of a taxation district may submit to the department of revenue, on a form prescribed by the departme…

74.42 Charge back of personal property taxes; subsequent distributions. (1) CHARGE BACK. No earlier than February 2 and no later than April 1, the taxation district treasurer may charge back to each taxing jurisdiction within the taxation district, except this state, its proporti…

74.43 Return of unpaid taxes, special assessments and special charges. (1) DELIVERY OF TAX ROLL. Except as provided in s. 74.12, on or before February 20, the taxation district treasurer, except the treasurer of a city authorized to act under s. 74.87, shall transfer the tax roll…

74.45 Certificate of delinquent taxes; endorsement of treasurer’s bond. (1) CERTIFICATE OF DELINQUENT TAXES BY COUNTY TREASURER. After the taxation district treasurer transfers the tax roll under s. 74.12 or 74.43, the county treasurer shall prepare a certificate of the amount th…

74.47 Interest and penalty on delinquent amounts. (1) INTEREST. The interest rate on delinquent general property taxes, special charges, special assessments and special taxes included in the tax roll for collection is one percent per month or fraction of a month. (2) PENALTY ALLO…

74.485 Charge for converting agricultural land. (1) DEFINITION. In this section, “agricultural land” has the meaning given in s. 70.32 (2) (c) 1g. (2) CONVERSION CHARGE. Except as provided in sub. (4), a person who owns land that has been assessed as agricultural land under s. 70…

74.49 Payment of delinquent taxes in installments. (1) INSTALLMENTS ALLOWED. Delinquent property taxes, special assessments, special charges and special taxes may be paid to the appropriate treasurer in partial payments of not less than $20, unless the treasurer agrees to accept …

74.51 Discharge of delinquent taxes. (1) PAYMENT TO DISCHARGE DELINQUENCY. Any person may, at any time before issuance of a tax certificate under s. 74.57, discharge delinquent real property taxes, special assessments, special charges or special taxes on real property by paying t…

74.53 Personal liability for delinquent taxes and other costs. (1) RECOVERY OF TAXES AND COSTS AGAINST PERSONS. Except as provided in subs. (3) and (5), a county or a municipality may bring a civil action against a person to recover any of the following amounts that are included …

74.55 Action to collect delinquent personal property taxes. (1) CIVIL ACTION. Delinquent personal property taxes, together with any interest and penalty under s. 74.47, may be recovered by the taxation district in a civil action, including an action under ch. 799, if the action i…

74.57 Issuance of tax certificate. (1) ISSUANCE. Annually, on September 1, the county treasurer shall issue to the county a tax certificate which includes all parcels of real property included in the tax roll for which real property taxes, special charges, special taxes or specia…

74.59 Notice of issuance of tax certificate. (1) NOTICE OF ISSUANCE OF TAX CERTIFICATE. (a) Within 90 days after issuance of the tax certificate under s. 74.57, the county treasurer shall mail a notice to each owner of record, as shown in the tax roll, of property included in the…

74.61 Correction of description on tax certificate. (1) ERROR DISCOVERED. If the treasurer determines that the description of any property in a tax certificate is erroneous, the treasurer shall direct the assessor of the taxation district in which the property is located to prepa…

74.63 Retention of tax certificate and other information. Following issuance of a tax certificate under s. 74.57 and notice of issuance under s. 74.59, the treasurer shall retain all of the following: (1) The tax certificate. (2) The affidavit of mailing, executed under s. 74.59 …

74.635 Sale of tax certificate revenues. (1) DEFINITIONS. In this section: (a) “County” includes a city that is authorized to act under s. 74.87. (b) “Tax certificate” means a tax certificate issued under s. 74.57. (c) “Tax certificate revenues” means, with respect to each parcel…

74.65 Lands acquired by state. (1) EXCLUDED FROM TAX CERTIFICATE. A tax certificate may not, at the time of issuance, include real property which was acquired by the state after taxes have become a lien on the property. Within a reasonable time after the tax roll in which the del…

74.67 Effect on taxes of revision of taxing jurisdiction boundary. A revision of the boundaries of a taxing jurisdiction after the January assessment date does not affect the levy or collection of property taxes based upon that assessment. Section 66.0235 governs any adjustment o…

74.69 Timely payment. (1) GENERAL RULE. If payment is required by this chapter to be made by a taxpayer on or before a certain date, the payment is timely if it is mailed in a properly addressed envelope, postmarked before midnight of the prescribed due date for making the paymen…

74.71 Treasurer’s receipts. When a taxation district treasurer pays money to a county treasurer under this chapter, the county treasurer shall give the taxation district treasurer a receipt prescribed by the department of revenue for the amount paid. History: 1987 a. 378; 1991 a.…

74.73 Rights of occupant or tenant who pays taxes. An occupant or tenant of property who pays real property taxes, special assessments, special charges or special taxes levied against the property, including any interest or penalties, may recover the amounts paid, plus interest a…

74.75 Vacancies in office; how taxes collected. If property within a taxation district is not assessed because of a vacancy in a county, city, village or town office, the department of revenue shall appoint a person certified under s. 73.09 to perform the functions of the office …

74.77 Effect on lien of payment of taxes by lienholder. (1) PAYMENT INCREASES LIEN. A person who holds a lien on real property and pays real property taxes, special assessments, special charges or special taxes levied against the property or any interest or penalty increases the …

74.79 Lienholder may contest tax. (1) Any person who holds a lien on real property has the remedies of a property owner to contest, as to that property, the legality or validity of any real property tax, special assessment, special charge or special tax or the validity of a tax c…

74.81 Procedure in authorized city. In any city authorized by its charter to sell land for nonpayment of city taxes, the provisions of this subchapter relating to the time and place of payment and returns and settlements of the taxes and charges in the duplicate county tax roll s…

74.83 Agreements. Any 1st class city may enter into agreements to pay delinquent state, county, metropolitan sewerage district and technical college district real or personal property taxes, including accrued interest and penalties thereon, applicable to property located in that …

74.87 Payments in authorized cities. (1) DEFINITION. In this section, “city” means a city authorized by its charter to sell land for nonpayment of taxes. (2) WHEN PAYABLE GENERALLY. Except as provided in subs. (3) and (4), in a city, general property taxes, special charges and sp…