Board of Review

The Town of Brookfield Board of Review is a statutory requirement giving property owners an opportunity to legally contest the evaluation of their property assessed value through a public hearing process. The primary duty of the Board of Review is to review the assessment role and determine if any errors occurred in calculating the assessment of the property in question and overturning (if necessary) the evaluation by the assessor. The rules and procedures of the Board of Review are dictated by State Law and outlined in Chapter 1.23 of the Town Code.

Every year, the assessor’s office prepares a preliminary assessment roll. This reflects property values as of January 1 each year. The table below lists the date and time period for Open Book.

The Open Book Review period is set aside to answer questions posed by property owners and to correct obvious clerical errors that were made in compiling the assessment roll.

Meetings

The Board of Review meets annually anytime during the 45-day period beginning on the 4th Monday in April. All Boards of Review must be in session at least 2 hours. After this first meeting, the Board may then adjourn at its own discretion from time to time, until its business is completed. However, whenever the Board adjourns for more than one day, the Clerk must post a written notice on the meeting place door, stating the date and time that the Board will resume meeting.

Members

The Board of Review members consist of the Town Board, one citizen member, plus two citizen alternate members. Terms for the Town Board run concurrent with their election term. The citizen member term is 1-year and begins on June 1st of the appointment period.

Filing an Objection

To file an objection to your assessment and schedule a hearing for the Board of Review, return your completed objection form to the Clerk no later than 48 hours before the first scheduled Board of Review meeting.

Assessing Property Values

Similar to a court, the Board is charged with the responsibility of correcting errors of under-or over-assessments. The Board can act only upon evidence given in the form of sworn oral testimony. You should furnish significant evidence supporting your estimate of market value.

An appraiser from our office will also present evidence relating to the market analysis performed on your property. Then the Board will decide to either raise, lower, or leave unchanged the value of your property.

Providing Evidence

Keep in mind that the Board can act only on evidence related to market value. Stating that taxes are too high is not relevant testimony. The best evidence of value would be a recent sale price of your property, if it conforms with sales of reasonably comparable properties. Any changes that the property has undergone between the date of the sale and the assessment date would also be taken into account. The sales price would have to be adjusted to reflect the change in property value between the date of the sale and the date of assessment.

The next best evidence of market value would be sales prices of other properties in the neighborhood that are comparable to your property.

Lacking either of the above, oral testimony by a qualified witness who has made a market value appraisal of the property is also good evidence. The Board will determine the market value of your property as indicated by the evidence submitted by you and by the Assessor.

Differences of Valuation

Similar to a court, the Board has the responsibility for resolving differences of opinion of valuation. Its function is to decide if the assessment is correct based upon oral testimony and evidence presented by the property owner and the Assessor’s staff.

Following the Board’s Decision & Appeals

After hearing the evidence, the Board may decide to lower, raise or sustain the assessment. Board of Review decisions may be appealed to Waukesha County Circuit Court.

Property owners will be sent a written notice of the Board’s determination after the hearing. You have the further right to appeal the Board of Review decision to the Circuit Court of Waukesha County. Under the law an appeal can also be taken from the Circuit Court decision to the State of Wisconsin Court of Appeals. You may also appeal the Board’s determination to the Wisconsin Department of Revenue.