Tax Bill Mixup Will Result In Approximately 600 Bills Being Reissued

Houses on S. Howell Ave. in Bay View. Photo by Jeramey Jannene.

City of Milwaukee property tax bills started arriving in the mail this week. And for a group of property owners, they’re for less than they should be.

Approximately 600 property owners should expect to receive a second, corrected bill in the coming weeks.

“In a number of cases, because of clerical errors, charges that were supposed to appear on the tax bill from either the [Milwaukee Water Works] or Department of Neighborhood Services (DNS), were not included,” said a spokesperson for Mayor Cavalier Johnson.

The charges are for unpaid water or municipal services fees stemming from the quarterly municipal services bill or from unpaid DNS reinspection fees.

The average homeowner who regularly pays their municipal services bill (commonly called the water bill) and doesn’t have recent or outstanding code violations would not be impacted by the error.

The issue, according to the mayor’s office, originated within the two departments and not within the Treasurer’s Office, which is responsible for sending the bills and collecting the money. “They’re being really helpful to correct the issue,” said a mayoral spokesperson. The Treasurer’s Office is led by independently-elected Treasurer Spencer Coggs.

A mayoral spokesperson said the administration is taking steps to identify the source of the issue and correct the issue.

Because the city is still actively working to correct the issue, the treasurer’s online tax bill system also does not yet show the unpaid fees.

The city, under state law, is able to transfer unpaid charges to the property tax bill after they are unpaid for a substantial period of time.