Court Opinion

ID: 9656898
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-23 20:06:37.58959+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:13:37.888386
License: Public Domain

LUNDSTEN, J.
¶ 24. (concurring). I join the lead opinion, but write separately for two reasons.
¶ 25. First, based on the briefs, oral argument, and my own research, it appears to me that a fiction is at work. Assessors are supposed to value subsidized housing at its fair market value yet, in common situa*800tions like the one before us, they may not take into consideration factors that directly affect fair market value. For example, at argument the parties agreed that federal tax credits significantly enhance the value of subsidized housing, yet Wis. Stat. § 70.32(lg) prohibits assessors from considering these tax credits. There may be some valuable policy reason underlying this prohibition. There may not be. But it is one reason assessments of subsidized housing often do not reflect actual fair market value. A similar problem seems to be at work with respect to operating income. In my view, such limitations on assessors prevent an honest appraisal of subsidized housing and create the conundrum we face today.
¶ 26. Second, while I join the lead opinion and not the concurring opinion, I commend Judge Deininger on his intelligent and candid approach to the matter. Sometimes we need to admit that the pieces of the puzzle do not fit.