I am hoping someone from the Milwaukee area can help me with some questions on property tax. I am under contract for the below property

http://assessments.milwaukee.gov/remast.asp?taxkey

When I go to Tax Balance

http://itmdapps.milwaukee.gov/taxAccountBalance/TaxBalServlet?itaxkey=&ichkdgt=6&isubacct=0&ismonth=052014

It says the total tax is $5981 but then in the summary section it says the total is $3515 and it has a special tax of over $4k which the seller says is because of adding a water meter and it wont continue past this year - any way to verify that?

Are taxes in arrears? How are payments made? Biannual? Quartlerly?

hi @Brianna Schmidt

you an always reach out to White Fish Bay and ask about the special tax assessment. Depending on how the owner set up the taxes, it could be monthly installments, here is the link to the current property

Thanks @Alex Anderson That helps!

you're welcome! sorry, white fish bay is where the owner resides lol.

@Brianna Schmidt

There is a section that is titled "account status" you will note that it says "installment", which means the seller decided to pay their taxes on an installment plan. The balance is what is left unpaid.

By the way, the city does not charge for new water meter replacements, but they will load unpaid water bills onto the tax bill if they are still delinquent when property tax bills are generated.

@Alex Anderson Yea, I was still able to plug in the tax key and see the special assessment, violations, ect

@Dorothy Templer - Thanks for the clarification. I went back and looked at my notes and yes, it was for unpaid water bills and the city added separate meters so now the tenants pay their own.

Originally posted by @Brianna Schmidt:
...it was for unpaid water bills and the city added separate meters so now the tenants pay their own.

What?!?!?!

Tell me more! I'd LOVE to do this with my 4plex!

@Arnie Guida I do not know the details - that is what the seller told me

Dang!

Maybe they'll only go up to duplexes....

I'll check into it, but I bet they won't do it on Multi's.

I'll let you know. Thanks Brianna!

@Arnie Guida

there is an episode on the Podcast that talks about someone using a company to split the water bill for each unit on their multi.

@Arnie Guida it is a duplex front and coach house back. I am seeing the seller Saturday to look at more of his properties, I will ask him

@Brianna Schmidt

For properties that are on installment it just means you pay January - October versus all in one lump sum. November and December no payments and you get the tax bill for that year in December.

If you look up the actual tax bill it will give you a breakdown of all the charges. In this case the $4,073.43 is broken up into:

Delinquent City Services = $657.54

Delinquent Storm Water = 922.64

Delinquent Water = $1,371.23

Health Abatement = $164.63

Additional Charges = $957.39

Normal property taxes appear to be only $1,907.81 for 2013.

Thanks @Dawn Anastasi - I am learning the differences between Miwlaukee and Chicgao slowly but surly.

Sorry to piggyback on this topic.

I can't seem to figure out how to calculate the annual property tax for a given property in Milwaukee Wisconsin, so that I can run a good numbers analysis on multiple properties. The assessor's site doesn't have very much information.

Let's take this random property as an example: 3862 N 54th Blvd Milwaukee, WI 53216

Where on the assessor's site can I find previous tax years information as well as an itemized list of the different county/city/school fees for this specific property? The best I can find is the one page PDF of their current installment tax bill.

Is the tax for this year simply the City Tax + County Tax - Credits? How are each of them calculated? The only tax rates I can find are on this page yet I can't reconcile the percentages there with this property or how they relate to the assessed value.

Is there an easy, consistent way to calculate the property tax for any Milwaukee property using the assessed value and specific tax rates?

Any help would be appreciated. Thank you!

@Arnie Guida    you can have it split by a licensed plumber.  It would be pretty costly to run cold water lines to each unit depending on the layout but the lower units would be easy.

@Jeff L.

 You are asking two separate questions.

1. Re that specific property, yes the assessor's page you referenced will give the latest tax bill and amount outstanding.

2. For properties in general, the easiest way to estimate taxes is to multiply the assessed (or anticipted reassessed) value by the net mill rate, currently 2.997%. 

By the way, for people looking up City of Milwaukee properties you may also want to check them out on the Department of Neighborhood Services site. You can get additional useful information there.

Also tagging @Brie Schmidt in case this is of interest.

Originally posted by @Jeff L. :

Sorry to piggyback on this topic.

Yes, you add up City and county and take out the credit to get the total tax.  If the "specials" box is empty then the total net tax is correct.

Originally posted by @Nick L. :

@Jeff L.

 You are asking two separate questions.

1. Re that specific property, yes the assessor's page you referenced will give the latest tax bill and amount outstanding.

2. For properties in general, the easiest way to estimate taxes is to multiply the assessed (or anticipted reassessed) value by the net mill rate, currently 2.997%. 

By the way, for people looking up City of Milwaukee properties you may also want to check them out on the Department of Neighborhood Services site. You can get additional useful information there.

Originally posted by @Brie Schmidt :

Originally posted by @Jeff L.:

Sorry to piggyback on this topic.

Yes, you add up City and county and take out the credit to get the total tax. If the "specials" box is empty then the total net tax is correct.

 Got it. Thank you so much!