BY TINA L. SCOTT
EDITOR
Will your property taxes increase this year? If you live in Lincoln County and in the Merrill Area Public School (MAPS) district, chances are pretty good the answer is yes, though there are a few exceptions.
Property tax bills for municipalities in Lincoln County either are, or will soon be, arriving in mailboxes. Many Lincoln County residents will see an increase on their 2023 property tax bill, although the amount of the increase will vary, and a very small percentage will see decreases.
Since property tax bills are made up of taxes levied by a number of different entities–locally those being Lincoln County, the city or town the property is located in, Northcentral Technical College, and the MAPS district–and the rates for each taxing entity vary, the amount isn’t the same for each Lincoln County resident across the board.
And the percentage of change on an individual’s tax bill may even be different for some residents within the same given municipality, which can be perplexing. Rates are determined according to calculations related to the value of the property in the taxing entity’s area, along with the population of the area utilizing a particular school district (aportionment) or local technical school district, for example, the taxing entity’s tax rate, the assessed value of the individual property, and other factors. How recently properties were reassessed or sold to establish their current value also factors in. For some entities, like school districts, it can be a complicated behind-the-scenes algebraic formula factoring in state aid that ultimately generates the numbers residents will see on their individual property tax bills that most don’t completely understand.
Municipal property tax calculations explained
For municipalities (cities, towns, and counties), the property tax calculation is simpler than for schools. Accurateappraisal.com provides the following explanation of how the tax is calculated for each property by each municipality.
- Each community has a unique Mill Rate which is calculated simply by taking all the taxes needed and dividing them by all current assessed values in that municipality. The Mill Rate is then multiplied by the assessed value to determine an individual tax bill. This generates the “piece of the tax pie” for each municipal (city, town, or county) budget.
- Changes to assessments. If someone’s taxes increased higher than the average, they may have a more desirable home, added or updated the property, or have recently purchased the home.
Most will see increases
To be sure, most Lincoln County residents will see an increase in their property taxes for 2023; however, the overall impact is not as bad as it might seem at first glance.
Increases … and a few decreases … vary
In a review of 36 random property tax statements from the City of Merrill and the Towns of Merrill, Russell, Harding, Schley, Pine River, and Corning [focusing primarily on the Merrill Foto News distribution area; statements for the Towns of Scott and Rock Falls weren’t available at the time of this writing], all but 2 showed an average tax rate increase. [Two showed an average decrease.]
Those increases ranged from an average tax increase of 2.0% on the low end in the Town of Pine River to a high of 35.3% which was in the Town of Merrill. Those were the exceptions rather than the rule, however. The other properties in the Town of Merrill had increases ranging between 10.0% and 10.5% and also included the two decreases in the average tax rate. The wide disparity in the Town of Merrill is likely related to their recent property reassessment. Some properties, such as those that sold for a much greater price than they were assessed at during the last assessment period or those that had significant improvements increasing their value since the last assessment period, saw higher than average increases, while properties that may have declined in value based on the old and new assessment value may show a decrease. Reassessments have the goal of re-setting the value of properties to reflect changes/improvements in the property and the current market.
The majority of the property tax bills in Lincoln County showed average tax increases ranging between 10.4% [for City of Merrill residents] and 20.2% [for Town of Corning residents]. In the Town of Schley, most saw average tax increases of 12.5%; average tax increases were 14.9%-15.0% in the Town of Harding; and average tax increases were 10.9%-11.4%. [According to the sample of property tax bills reviewed.]
Most of those residing in their residential properties in those same municipalities will see a lower net property tax increase, however, due to the first dollar credit and lottery/gaming credits on their property tax bills, which will drop their net property taxes, and reduce the amount actually payable. Those credits reduced the net property tax increase for most of the properties in that category to less than 10% with just a few exceptions.
City of Merrill 2.5% increase
In the City of Merrill, residents will see a 2.5% increase attributable to the City on most of their property tax bills. That 2.5% increase, according to Merrill Mayor Steve Hass and co-City Administrator Rod Akey is less than the cost of inflation and they, along with co-City Administrator Corey Bennett, the City Council, department heads, and everyone involved in budgeting at the City level, worked hard to ensure minimal changes. “The department heads came in with their budgets as close to zero as possible,” Mayor Hass said. “Council had, I think we had four meetings where we went through them and discussed. We did make some reductions in budgets–took some things out and added a few things too.”
Ultimately, the City is dealing with many of the same issues as residents. “Our heating and electric costs are up a good 20% [from] where they were three years ago, and that’s each year,” Akey said. “Fuel costs for the Street Department–they’re going through the roof. Retention wise, as far as our employees, we did give a 2.5% raise this year, which when you look at the cost of living …isn’t keeping up.” Still, it was important for employee retention to recognize employee contributions with some kind of a raise. And, the cost of the insurance for employees did go down a little bit, so that helped, Akey said.
The annual inflation rate for the United States was 3.2% for the 12 months ending in October, compared to 3.7% previously, according to U.S. Labor Department data published on Nov. 14, 2023. The inflation rate for 2022 was 6.5% and inflation was 7.0% in 2021.
SIDE NOTE: City of Merrill properties will be reassessed in 2024. A reassessment hasn’t taken place in years, and most properties in the City limits are at about 64.7% of fair market value, Hass and Akey explained. The state requires municipalities to do a reassessment when they drop below 70%, Hass said, and the goal of a reassessment is to bring properties up to their actual fair market value. Based on the current market value, almost all properties will increase in value, but theoretically, if they all increase in value equally, it won’t affect individual property taxes for 2024 too much, as those increases would be proportionate. Those most affected will be properties that had significant improvements to increase their value as compared to the other properties in their area or those that declined in value, perhaps because they haven’t been maintained or for other specific reasons.
MAPS increase looks high, but consider historical numbers
While the increases attributed to the MAPS property tax line range from 16.8% to 39% on most tax bills (higher on some, lower on some others depending on the municipality), it’s not enough to just look at the percentage. To put the amount attributed to MAPS in perspective, it’s important to look back historically at this line on property tax bills for the last several years.
For example, in the City of Merrill on a home/property with an assessed value of just over $85,000, the property tax attributed to Merrill Schools is just over $630. That’s $30 less than the property tax attributed to that line on the 2021 tax bill, $55 less than the property tax on that line on the 2020 tax bill, about $27 less than the property tax on that line on the 2019 tax bill, and about $18 less than the property tax on that line on the 2018 tax bill … all for the same property. Those years when the taxes for Merrill Schools were higher were when the school referendum was in effect. In 2022 (last year), the referendum was no longer in effect and the property taxes on that line dropped to about $453. So … between 2021 and 2022, the property taxes for Merrill Schools decreased 31.3%. For 2023, the increase to $630 is a 39% increase, but the actual amount of the tax due in 2023 [$630] is still $30 less than the school tax due in 2021 [$660].
This past summer, the state of Wisconsin changed their guidelines to allow school districts in the state to increase their revenue. MAPS was able to increase their revenue from $25.8 million to $27 million. The state also authorized districts to increase their tax levies for operating expenses without requiring them to go to referendum, for Merrill raising the limit from $7.71 million to $9.81 million. That’s the primary reason MAPS is no longer seeking an operational referendum from the community. Combined with the cuts they made prior to the 2023-24 academic year, which already reduced overall MAPS expenses in areas across the board, this change enables the district to increase the levy to get the funds needed for a balanced budget. The $9.81 million in revenue MAPS will generate from tax levies in 2023 [for the 2023-24 academic year] is still less than the $10.5 million generated from tax levies for the 2021-22 academic year on the 2021 property taxes during the last year of the higher taxes authorized by Merrill’s referendum.
Shannon Murray, MAPS Superintendent, summarized: “The tax increase that we are all experiencing is simply a result of the operations referendum coming off of the local property tax bills last year, and the new revenue afforded in the new State budget coming onto the tax bills this year. Essentially, those two events created a dip in 2022-23. Districts work very hard to keep mill rates stable from year to year and those two events made that very difficult.”
“The misconception that many taxpayers have is that they think that the MAPS spending and budget went up 29% or 39%, and that is simply not the case. Changes to the State budget over the summer led to a 4-5% increase to the MAPS budget and spending for the first time in several years. Unfortunately, through a series of very complicated tax laws, aid distributions, property valuations, (etc.), this translates to a more significant percentage increase on the actual tax bills.”
Lincoln County tax increase
According to Lincoln County Board Supervisor Don Friske, the average increase for taxes attributable to Lincoln County is 3.1% and that tax levy will generate only $545,000 more for the County than last year. The increase in County taxes is directly attributable to ordering two ambulances for Emergency Medical Services, ambulances that must be ordered approximately two years in advance in current market conditions, and to unanticipated culvert replacements, he said.
Other municipalities’ tax changes
Based on the handful of random 2023 property tax bills reviewed for the Towns of Merrill, Corning, Pine River, Schley, Harding, and Russell, most of those municipalities maintained their budget very close to what it was in 2022 and most of their residents will see little, if any, increase in the taxes attributed to their township. The Town of Schley tax bills reviewed showed a 0.4% increase while all but 1 of the other 25 tax bills showed decreases in the taxes for their townships.
Compare this year with prior years’ tax returns
It is interesting to note how overall property taxes have fluctuated over a longer period of time, and Lincoln County provides online date for 11 years, going back to 2012. This can help put this year’s property tax bill into perspective.
All Lincoln County residents can easily compare their property tax bills from year to year at the Lincoln County website. [For those who recently purchased their property, they will need to look up prior years using the tax parcel number of by the prior owner’s name.]
- Go to: co.lincoln.wi.us/treasurer/page/property-tax-records.
- Click on “Search for property tax information.”
- Enter the first and last name of one of the property owners as it appears on the property tax bill and click on the red “Find Now” button.
- Double click on the red parcel ID of the property to compare and scroll down to see property tax bill totals going back to 2012.
Detailed information is available for 6 years, going back to 2018, by looking at copies of the actual tax bills for each of those years. - To see the detail or a copy of the actual tax bill for each of those years, click on the individual tax year desired [in red] to the right of the words “Print tax bills” [above the words “Tax History”].