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What MKE property assessments means for taxes
For many property owners in Milwaukee, new assessments showing up in mailboxes raise plenty of questions.
MILWAUKEE - For many property owners in Milwaukee, new assessments showing up in mailboxes raise plenty of questions.
Assessment concerns
What they're saying:
The Milwaukee Assessor's Office finds the average Milwaukee home in 2025 was $205,000. In 2026, that number has grown to $220,000.
"They reflect what’s happening in the market. And right now we’ve got a combination of high demand, limited supply, and lack of new construction, which also helps lead to increased prices," said Ryan Ranker, Milwaukee Deputy Commissioner of Assessments.
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"For most people, your home is your most valuable asset. There's ways to take advantage of that asset, home equity loans and those sorts of things. And that's a good thing when your property value goes up, especially if you're going to sell or something like that," said Tyler Byrnes, Wisconsin Policy Forum Senior Research Associate.
Determining assessments
By the numbers:
How is your assessment figured out? With the help of computers. Milwaukee assessors break the city into 140 neighborhoods. They say assessments are based on neighborhood sales, ignoring foreclosures and duressed properties. They also use real estate records, permits and inspections.
"A house that was flipped. That would be in above average condition. It might be good or very good. And the surrounding properties would be average, fair or even lower ratings. That is then taken into account when we’re developing the values," said Colin Williams, Milwaukee Assessor's Office Real Estate Modeler.
"We try to make it an apples to apples comparison," Ranker said.
The largest bump is in the 7th Aldermanic District, which includes parts of Sherman Park. Properties in that district were up on average about 13%.
The 4th Aldermanic District downtown is the only one to see a decrease, with an average change of -1.4%. That loss is coming from condominium values going down.
The Milwaukee Assessor's Office finds residential properties are up 6.43%, while commercial properties are up 5.31%.
What they're saying:
"You can beat up on them, they can’t push back, they can’t hire lawyers, they can’t hire appraisals. It’s easy to load up on the homeowners, because they are defenseless," said Milwaukee Alderman Bob Bauman.
"One of the big challenges in valuing commercial property. There’s a number of them: 1. We don’t have as many sales, which is hard to know exactly, which is why we rely on an income approach, when we do receive income and expense data. We get some from third party sources, but the largest batch we’d get, I’d estimate, come through appeals," Williams said.
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But do not panic yet about your tax bill.
"A rising assessment doesn't always mean a higher tax bill," Byrnes said.
Wisconsin limits
Dig deeper:
Wisconsin law limits how much property tax money for your local government can bring in, and it can only increase as a result of a complicated formula or voters must approved it through referendum.
House values going up does not allow the city to bring in more property tax. Your assessment impacts your slice of the pie.
How it works:
If everyone's and your assessment went up by 6%, then your tax bill will not spike.
If your assessment went up 3% and everyone else's went up by 6%, then your tax bill might actually go down.
If your assessment went up 10% and everyone else's went up 6%, then your tax bill would be going up.
Consider an appeal
What you can do:
For now, there is still time to appeal your assessment. The deadline to make that appeal is Monday, May 18.
A Milwaukee assessor staff member estimated roughly 30% of appeals are successful.
The Source: Information in this post was provided by the City of Milwaukee Assessor's Officer and Wisconsin Policy Forum.