Wisconsin Statutes

Wis. Stat. § 70.46 (2026)

Boards of review; members; organization

✓ current as of July 2026

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70.4670.46 Boards of review; members; organization.

70.46(1)(1) Except as provided in sub. (1m) and s. 70.99, the supervisors and clerk of each town, the mayor, clerk and such other officers, other than assessors, as the common council of each city by ordinance determines, the president, clerk and such other officers, other than the assessor, as the board of trustees of each village by ordinance determines, shall constitute a board of review for the town, city or village. In cities of the 1st class the board of review shall by ordinance in lieu of the foregoing consist of 5 to 9 residents of the city, none of whom may occupy any public office or be publicly employed. The members shall be appointed by the mayor of the city with the approval of the common council and shall hold office as members of the board for staggered 5-year terms. Subject to sub. (1m), in all other towns, cities and villages the board of review may by ordinance in lieu of the foregoing consist of any number of town, city or village residents and may include public officers and public employees. The ordinance shall specify the manner of appointment. The town board, common council or village board shall fix, by ordinance, the salaries of the members of the board of review. No board of review member may serve on a county board of review to review any assessment made by a county assessor unless appointed as provided in s. 70.99 (10).

70.46(1a)(1a) Whenever the duties of assessor are performed by one of the officers named to the board of review by sub. (1) then the governing body shall by ordinance designate another officer to serve on the board instead of the officer who performs the duties of assessor.

70.46(1m)(1m)

70.46(1m)(a)(a) A person who is appointed to the office of town clerk, town treasurer or to the combined office of town clerk and town treasurer under s. 60.30 (1e) may not serve on a board of review under sub. (1).

70.46(1m)(b)(b) If a town board of review under sub. (1) had as a member a person who held the elective office of town clerk, town treasurer or the combined office of town clerk and town treasurer, and the town appoints a person to hold one or more of these offices under s. 60.30 (1e), the town board shall fill the seat on the board of review formerly held by an elective office holder by an elector of the town.

70.46(2)(2) The town, city or village clerk on such board of review and in cities of the first class the commissioner of assessments on such board of review or any person on the commissioner’s staff designated by the commissioner shall be the clerk thereof and keep an accurate record of all its proceedings.

70.46(3)(3) The members of such board, except members who are full time employees or officers of the town, village or city, shall receive such compensation as shall be fixed by resolution or ordinance of the town board, village board or common council.

70.46(4)(4) No board of review may be constituted unless at least one member completes in each year a training session under s. 73.03 (55). The municipal clerk shall provide an affidavit to the department of revenue stating whether the requirement under this subsection has been fulfilled.

70.46 HistoryHistory: 1971 c. 180; 1973 c. 90; 1975 c. 427; 1979 c. 58; 1991 a. 156, 316; 1995 a. 34; 1997 a. 237; 1999 a. 32; 2021 a. 1.

70.46 AnnotationPrejudice of a board of review is not shown by the fact that the members are taxpayers. State ex rel. Berg Equipment Corp. v. Town of Spencer Board of Review, 53 Wis. 2d 233, 191 N.W.2d 892 (1971).

70.46 AnnotationA town clerk’s compensation may be increased for service on the board of review if the clerk has been designated part-time by the town meeting. 79 Atty. Gen. 176.

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 11 cases (1 in the last 5 years), 1943–2023 · leading case: Nankin v. Vill. of Shorewood, 2001 WI 92 (Wis. 2001).

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Nankin v. Vill. of Shorewood, 2001 WI 92 (Wis. 2001). · cites it 4× “See Wis. Stat. § 70.46 (1). ¶ 32. Fourth, property owners are typically afforded a greater amount of time to prepare their case at the circuit court level than before the board of review.”

Vincent Milewski v. Town of Dover, 2017 WI 79 (Wis. 2017). · cites it 4× “See Wis. Stat. § 70.46 (1). 4 No. 2015AP1523 objecting to assessments under [§] 70.”

Metro. Assocs. v. City of Milwaukee, 2011 WI 20 (Wis. 2011). · cites it 2× “Wis. Stat. §§ 70.46 (1), 70.99(10)(a); Nankin, 245 Wis.”

Rite-Hite Corp. v. Bd. of Review of Brown Deer, 575 N.W.2d 721 (Wis. Ct. App. 1997). · cites it 2× “See § 70.46, Stats. Giving the Board access to impartial legal advice on technical and procedural matters advances rather than retards the goal of setting a fair assessment.”

Walgreen Co. v. City of Oshkosh, 2014 WI App 54 (Wis. Ct. App. 2014). · cites it 2× “70.47(1). ¶ 10. A property owner who objects to an assessment must provide the BOR's clerk with written or oral notice of an intent to file an objection at least forty-eight hours before the BOR's first scheduled meeting and must file a written objection (if not already filed)…”

United States v. Certain Lands, 49 F. Supp. 225 (W.D. Wis. 1943). “§§ 70.46, 70.47, 70.50, 70.52. When the annual real estate taxes were levied by the City of Eau Claire on December 23, 1942, the levy included the premises in question, which were listed on the tax roll as of May 1, 1942.”

Vincent Milewski v. Town of Dover (Wis. 2017). · cites it 2× “See Wis. Stat. § 70.46 (1). 4 No. 2015AP1523 objecting to assessments under [§] 70.”

City of Waukesha v. City of Waukesha Bd. of Review (Wis. Ct. App. 2020). · cites it 2× “§ 70.46(1). ¶20 Although a board’s membership does not usually require any special training or experience, see WIS.”

North Cent. Conservancy Trust, Inc. v. Town of Harrison (Wis. Ct. App. 2023). “85 is available only if the assessment does not exceed $1,000,000 and if the property “is radically out of proportion to the general level of assessment of all other property in the district.”

State ex rel. Riegert v. Koepke, 109 N.W.2d 129 (Wis. 1961). “The composition of boards of review is provided for in sec. 70.46, Stats., and their duties are prescribed by sec.”

— Wis. Stat. § 70.46(1) — 1 case

City of Waukesha v. City of Waukesha Bd. of Review (Wis. Ct. App. 2020). “§ 70.46(1). ¶20 Although a board’s membership does not usually require any special training or experience, see WIS.”

Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.