Concerned Oshkosh's revaluation of properties will impact your taxes? Here's what to know.

OSHKOSH – The new revaluation of properties won’t necessarily result in a higher tax bill for homeowners.

City Manager Mark Rohloff gave the assurance after fielding complaints from Oshkosh residents who believe their property taxes will increase directly proportionate to their higher assessed property values.

Rohloff made the comments as the Oshkosh Assessor’s Office has been revaluating all of the city’s properties to accurately reflect their current market values.

“Wisconsin is governed by levy limit law, so just because we have an increase doesn’t mean we can increase taxes,” explained Rohloff.

“Our tax rate is a function of the levy that council approves. So again, because the assessed value is going up significantly that doesn’t increase the amount of the levy.

"So if your assessed value is going up by 50%, your tax bill isn't going up by 50%," he added.

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According to the city, the average residential property in Oshkosh is likely going to be valued 75% higher than when it was last assessed in 2017 because of the current housing market.

State law requires municipalities to conduct regular revaluations to ensure assessments are within 10% of the full property value in a five-year range.

That helps to equalize the tax base by showing each property’s “fair market value.”

But Rohloff revealed Oshkosh’s assessments fall way outside of that range considering the city hasn’t done a revaluation in seven years.

“We fell out in 2020 when we were below 90%, and of course that rise continued very rapidly and now we’re below 70%, so now we’re definitely required to do a full revaluation,” he said.

“This is not unique to Oshkosh, Wisconsin or even America — but there is this universal suspicion that this equals tax increase, but it really has everything to do with fair property value markets,” he said.

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Rohloff has given a further assurance he intends to propose that the current common council caps the tax levy at a 4% increase for next year’s budget.

A property’s assessed value is multiplied by the combined tax rate to determine the tax bill.

Homeowners can call the city’s Assessor’s Office about their property’s new assessed value.

Have a story tip or public interest concern? Contact Justin Marville at jmarville@gannett.com.