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 The City Assessor is responsible for the assessment process including: (1) Discovering all real and personal property that is subject to tax unless exempted by law; (2) Listing all property characteristics used to determine value; and (3) Valuing all property subject to property tax. Creating and maintaining an accurate assessment roll (list of all taxable property: address, value, and owner) fulfills the first requirement. Sustaining property record cards with correct characteristics and information satisfies the second requirement. Accurate valuation, the final requirement, entails estimating the market value of all locally assessable property in the City. These values are used when establishing property taxes next December. 

In Madison, all property is valued annually at 100% of market value as of January 1. For the purpose of taxation, property falls into two categories: real estate and personal property. Within these broad categories, there are several delineations of property. Real estate includes single family homes, condominiums, apartment buildings, commercial, and agricultural properties. Personal property consists of furniture, fixtures, and other types of property used in the course of business or commerce. Real estate and personal property are assessed by the City Assessor and represent approximately 98% of the property tax base. The remaining 2% of the tax base is manufacturing property valued by the Wisconsin Department of Revenue. 

Real Estate Changes
Locally assessed real estate increased 6.6% for 2020.  Commercial property has increased 8.6% ($10,301 to $11,183 million) and residential assessments increased 5.5% ($17,821 to $18,928 million).

Personal Property Changes
Locally assessed personal property assessments increased by $42 million between 2019 and 2020. This represents a 7.7% increase from $544 to $586 million.

Manufacturing Assessments
Manufacturing full value assessments prepared by the State are available on the WI DOR website: https://www.revenue.wi.gov/Pages/Manufacturing/home.aspx. Last year these assessments totaled $428 million ($351.4 million on real estate and $76.7 million on personal property).

Recap of Local Changes and Comprehensive Report
A report is available including tables that focus on the compositions and rates of locally assessed real estate growth.
 

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