"Door County Real Estate" by: Kevin Nordahl, REALTOR®
Gambling on property taxes.
So you like to gamble but you say you never win. Here's a twist. Paying your property taxes is the only time you really win the lottery. Here's how it works.
Every parcel of land has a parcel identification number, PIN (aka. A tax parcel number) assigned to it by the county. When new parcels are created, as in a subdivision for example, the county also identifies those new parcels at the time they are recorded. For each tax listing number there is an assessed value established by the town Assessor. This Assessor is licensed by the State of Wisconsin and employed by the township or municipality on a fairly regular basis to establish value on each property for tax purposes. These values are kept on record at the Real Property Listing and County Treasurer's offices at the Door County Courthouse. They are also public record and may be viewed online, in addition to a detailed plat on every parcel in Door County. That amazing resource is available at the following Internet address: http://map.co.door.wi.us/gis-lio-page/index.htm Click the "Web Map" link.
For each improved parcel (i.e. properties with buildings on them) there is a separate assessed value designated on the tax-listing sheet. Structures are listed as an improvement. This is for purposes of valuation and depreciation and works its way into more complex valuation formulas used by the state.
So how do they figure out my taxes? Each town has three set criteria by which they establish our property taxes: 1) Assessed value 2) MIL rate 3) Lottery credit. The MIL Rate is the net tax rate per $1,000 of assessed value. In English, it's the dollar amount per $1,000 of your assessed value by which your taxes are based upon. For example: Baileys Harbor's MIL rate is $12.38/$1,000. If your Baileys Harbor house is assessed at $200,000 you would start computations with a tax of $200 x $12.38 = $2,566. Finally, here's the part where we all win the lottery, you subtract another whopping $21.73 from your Baileys Harbor taxes. That's because all of our wise counterparts contributed to the Wisconsin lottery system enough to give every property owner a little break. $21.73 is Baileys Harbor's lottery tax credit. The end result for our happy Baileys Harbor homeowner is paying $2,544 in taxes for 2002.
A list of the 2002 Door County tax rates for each town may be obtained from the Real Property Listing office at the Door County Courthouse. When you decide to get crazy over your assessed value next time be sure to ask your town about their MIL rate. The complex methods used to establish our yearly payments are based upon this other factor just as equally as they are based upon property valuation. Your town officials are the ones who establish this rate based upon their local budgets and how much money they get from federal and state government. Expect property values in Door County to continue going up. Expect higher assessments. Call your town officials about your MIL rate before blaming the real estate community. We all get to live here. Maybe we could all play the lottery a bit more?
Kevin Nordahl is a life-long resident of Door County, a REALTORŪ and a member of the Door County MLS. He is active President of the Door County Board of REALTORSŪ and has been a Sales Consultant at Coldwell Banker Door County Horizons in Fish Creek since 1996. He may be reached online at www.doorcountyrealestate.com or by phone at (920) 493-4004.
Kevin Nordahl is a life-long resident of Door County, a REALTORŪ and a member of the Door County MLS. He is active President of the Door County Board of REALTORSŪ and has been a Sales Consultant at Coldwell Banker Door County Horizons in Fish Creek since 1996. He may be reached online at www.doorcountyrealestate.com or by phone at (920) 493-4004.