District II
March 19, 2014
To:
Hon. James R. Kieffer
Circuit Court Judge
Waukesha County Courthouse
515 W. Moreland Blvd.
Waukesha, WI 53188
Kathleen A. Madden
Clerk of Circuit Court
Waukesha County Courthouse
515 W. Moreland Blvd.
Waukesha, WI 53188
Bennett J. Brantmeier
Brantmeier Law LLC
P. O. Box 309
Jefferson, WI 53549-0309
Michelle E. Martin
Donald J. Murn
Axley Brynelson, LLP
N20W22961 Watertown Rd.
Waukesha, WI 53186
Danielle H. Thompson
406 Maple St.
Palmyra, WI 53156
You are hereby notified that the Court has entered the following opinion and order:
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FAM 828, LLC v. Town of Genesee (L.C. #2013CV1041) |
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Before Brown, C.J., Neubauer, P.J., and Gundrum, J.
FAM 828, LLC, appeals a circuit court
order dismissing its complaint for excessive assessments against the Town of
Genesee (the Town). Based on our review of the
briefs and record, we conclude at conference that this case is appropriate for
summary disposition. See Wis.
Stat. Rule 809.21 (2011-12).[1] We affirm the order of the circuit court.
FAM 828 is the owner of certain properties in the
Town. FAM 828 believed that its 2012
property assessments did not reflect the market conditions. Accordingly, it filed a complaint pursuant to
Wis. Stat. § 74.37, asserting
that its assessments were excessive.
The Town moved to dismiss the complaint on the ground
that FAM 828 had failed to follow the statutory procedures for challenging the
assessments. Specifically, it noted that
FAM 828 had failed to first go before the Town board of review and file an objection,
as required by Wis. Stat. § 74.37(4)(a).
In response, FAM 828 argued that it was not required
to file an objection with the Town board of review because it had not received
a notice of assessment from the Town.
However, FAM 828 acknowledged that the Town was not required to send a
notice of assessment because the assessed value of the properties did not
change between 2011 and 2012. See Wis.
Stat. § 70.365.
Ultimately, the circuit court agreed with the Town and
determined that proceeding before the Town board of review was a prerequisite
to bringing the action in the court. Because
FAM 828 did not meet that prerequisite here, the court granted the Town’s
motion to dismiss. This appeal follows.
On appeal, FAM 828 contends that the circuit court
erred in granting the Town’s motion to dismiss. FAM 828 renews its argument that it was not
required to file an objection with the Town board of review because it had not
received a notice of assessment from the Town.
We conclude that this case is governed by the recent
decision of Northbrook Wisconsin, LLC v. City of Niagara, 2014 WI App 22,
__ Wis. 2d __, __ N.W.2d __, which addressed the same legal issue. There, a taxpayer had argued that it was not
required to file an objection before the board of review prior to filing its
excessive assessment complaint because the municipality did not send it a
notice of assessment. Id.,
¶1. However, the municipality was not
required to send a notice of assessment, as the assessed value of the property
had not changed from the previous year. Id.,
¶4. Because a notice of assessment was
not required, we held that the taxpayer was not relieved of its obligation to
first proceed before the board of review before filing its excessive assessment
complaint. See id., ¶19. Accordingly,
we upheld the circuit court’s dismissal of the complaint. Id., ¶1.
Applying Northbrook to the present case, we
conclude that FAM 828 was not relieved of its obligation to first proceed
before the Town board of review before filing its excessive assessment complaint
in the circuit court. Because it failed
to do so, the court properly granted the Town’s motion to dismiss.
Upon the foregoing reasons,
IT IS ORDERED that the order of the circuit court is summarily affirmed, pursuant to Wis. Stat. Rule 809.21.
Diane M. Fremgen
Clerk of Court of Appeals