State ex rel. Miller v. Thompson
| Decision Date | 19 November 1912 |
| Citation | 138 N.W. 628,151 Wis. 184 |
| Parties | STATE EX REL. MILLER ET AL. v. THOMPSON. |
| Court | Wisconsin Supreme Court |
OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE
Appeal from Circuit Court, Milwaukee County; L. W. Halsey, Judge.
Certiorari by the State, on the relation of George P. Miller and another, against Carl D. Thompson, to review the action of the board of review in confirming an assessment. From a judgment for plaintiffs, defendant appeals. Reversed and remanded, with directions.Daniel W. Hoan, City Atty., of Milwaukee, for appellant.
Miller, Mack & Fairchild, of Milwaukee, for respondent.
This is a proceeding to review a judgment of the circuit court for Milwaukee county declaring illegal and void the action of the board of review in confirming the assessor's assessment of respondent's property, and setting aside the assessment and action of the board of review. The matter was brought to a hearing upon the return of the appellant, Carl D. Thompson, city clerk of the city of Milwaukee, and as such clerk of the board of review. The errors assigned involve the following propositions: (1) That the assessment of $2,900,000 on the real estate and improvements was improper, arbitrary, illegal, and without jurisdiction; (2) that the assessed valuation of said property for the year 1911 should have been fixed by the board of review at the sum of $2,600,000 apportioned as follows: $2,600,000 as the assessed valuation of real estate, exclusive of buildings and improvements thereon, and no dollars as the assessed valuation of the buildings and improvements on said real estate. The real controversy on this appeal is whether the board of review was justified in affirming the assessment. The property involved is the Plankinton House property in the city of Milwaukee. The assessment had been entered upon the assessment roll, and delivered to the city clerk of the city of Milwaukee. The judgment of the circuit court reversed the action of the board of review and set aside the assessment. The writ of certiorari was issued at the instance of H. A. J. Upham and George P. Miller, as trustees of the estate of John Plankinton. The assessment placed upon the property by the assessor was itemized between the real estate and improvements on the real estate as follows: Real estate $2,600,000, improvements $300,000. On the hearing it was conceded for the purpose of the hearing at least that the real estate exclusive of buildings was worth $2,600,000, but objection to the assessment of the additional $300,000 on account of buildings and improvements on the real estate was pressed. George P. Miller, one of the trustees of the Plankinton estate, testified before the board of review that he was familiar with the land in controversy, giving a description of it; that the property had been rented at best available prices, and that in the course of the last few years the taxes and rents have increased; that the assessment of $2,600,000 for the ground is about right, or at least he did not desire to make any particular objection to it; that considering the real estate worth $2,600,000 the improvements thereon are only worth the wreckage, because with an assessment of $2,600,000, estimating taxes at 17 mills, the taxes upon the property would be in the neighborhood of $50,000, and if the hotel business situate upon the property did not make money the rent from the property after payment of expenses and repairs would not pay the taxes; that in order to make the property earn the taxes it has to be improved, and to run the property in the present state with the present improvements with taxes increasing would mean confiscation, as the taxes would take all the income; that the trustees have been trying for three years to rent the property for a period of 99 years and have negotiated to that effect; that a 99-year lease would secure an average annual rental of about $125,000; that the property was further menaced because the buildings, especially including the Plankinton House Hotel, are old and not in accord with what people...
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