AB245: Bill Text Engrossed

AB245-engrossed,69 Section 69 . 70.015 of the statutes is created to read:

AB245-engrossed,53,2 70.015 Sunset. Beginning with the property tax assessments as of January 1, 2024, no tax shall be levied under this chapter on personal property.

AB245-engrossed,70 Section 70 . 70.02 of the statutes is amended to read:

AB245-engrossed,53,8 70.02 Definition of general property. General property is all the taxable real and personal property defined in ss. 70.03 and 70.04 except that which is taxed under ss. 70.37 to 70.395 and ch. 76 and subchs. I and VI of ch. 77. General property includes manufacturing property subject to s. 70.995, but assessment of that property shall be made according to s. 70.995.

AB245-engrossed,71 Section 71 . 70.04 (1r) of the statutes is amended to read:

AB245-engrossed,53,15 70.04 (1r) Toll bridges; private railroads and bridges; saw Saw logs, timber, and lumber, either upon land or afloat; steamboats, ships, and other vessels, whether at home or abroad; ferry boats, including the franchise for running the same; ice cut and stored for use, sale, or shipment; beginning May 1, 1974, and manufacturing machinery and equipment as defined in s. 70.11 (27), and entire property of companies defined in s. 76.28 (1), located entirely within one taxation district.

AB245-engrossed,72 Section 72 . 70.043 of the statutes is repealed.

AB245-engrossed,73 Section 73 . 70.05 (5) (a) 1. of the statutes is amended to read:

AB245-engrossed,53,20 70.05 (5) (a) 1. “Assessed value" means with respect to each taxation district the total values established under ss. s. 70.32 and 70.34, but excluding manufacturing property subject to assessment under s. 70.995.

AB245-engrossed,74 Section 74 . 70.10 of the statutes is amended to read:

AB245-engrossed,54,5 70.10 Assessment, when made, exemption. The assessor shall assess all real and personal taxable property as of the close of January 1 of each year. Except in cities of the 1st class and 2nd class cities that have a board of assessors under s. 70.075, the assessment shall be finally completed before the first Monday in April. All real property conveyed by condemnation or in any other manner to the state, any county, city, village or town by gift, purchase, tax deed or power of eminent domain before January 2 in such year shall not be included in the assessment. Assessment of manufacturing property subject to s. 70.995 shall be made according to that section.

AB245-engrossed,75 Section 75 . 70.11 (42) of the statutes is repealed.

AB245-engrossed,76 Section 76 . 70.111 (28) of the statutes is created to read:

AB245-engrossed,54,11 70.111 (28) Business and manufacturing personal property. (a) Beginning with the property tax assessments applicable to the January 1, 2024, assessment year, personal property, as defined in s. 70.04, including steam and other vessels, furniture, and equipment.

AB245-engrossed,54,12 (b) The exemption under par. (a) does not apply to the following:

AB245-engrossed,54,13 1. Property assessed as real property under s. 70.17 (3).

AB245-engrossed,54,14 2. Property subject to taxation under s. 76.025 (2).

AB245-engrossed,54,17 (c) A taxing jurisdiction may include the most recent valuation of personal property described under par. (a) that is located in the taxing jurisdiction for purposes of complying with debt limitations applicable to the jurisdiction.

AB245-engrossed,77 Section 77 . 70.119 (3) (c) of the statutes is amended to read:

AB245-engrossed,54,22 70.119 (3) (c) “Municipality" means cities, villages, towns, counties, and metropolitan sewerage districts with general taxing authority, except that for distributions after December 31, 2023, “municipality” does not include counties and metropolitan sewerage districts.

AB245-engrossed,78 Section 78 . 70.13 (1) of the statutes is amended to read:

AB245-engrossed,55,5 70.13 (1) All For assessments made before January 1, 2024, all personal property shall be assessed in the assessment district where the same is located or customarily kept except as otherwise specifically provided. Personal property in transit within the state on the first day of January shall be assessed in the district in which the same is intended to be kept or located, and personal property having no fixed location shall be assessed in the district where the owner or the person in charge or possession thereof resides, except as provided in sub. (5).

AB245-engrossed,79 Section 79 . 70.13 (2) of the statutes is amended to read:

AB245-engrossed,55,13 70.13 (2) Saw For assessments made before January 1, 2024, saw logs or timber in transit, which are to be sawed or manufactured in any mill in this state, shall be deemed located and shall be assessed in the district in which such mill is located. Saw logs or timber shall be deemed in transit when the same are being transported either by water or rail, but when such logs or timber are banked, decked, piled or otherwise temporarily stored for transportation in any district, they shall be deemed located, and shall be assessed in such district.

AB245-engrossed,80 Section 80 . 70.13 (3) of the statutes is amended to read:

AB245-engrossed,56,2 70.13 (3) On For assessments made before January 1, 2024, on or before the tenth day of January in each year the owner of logs or timber in transit shall furnish the assessor of the district in which the mill at which the logs or timber will be sawed or manufactured is located a verified statement of the amount, character and value of all the logs and timber in transit on the first day of January preceding, and the owner of the logs or timber shall furnish to the assessor of the district in which the logs and timber were located on the first day of January preceding, a like verified statement of the amount, character and value thereof. Any assessment made in accordance with the owner's statement shall be valid and binding on the owner notwithstanding any subsequent change as to the place where the same may be sawed or manufactured. If the owner of the logs or timber shall fail or refuse to furnish the statement herein provided for, or shall intentionally make a false statement, that owner shall be subject to the penalties prescribed by s. 70.36.

AB245-engrossed,81 Section 81 . 70.13 (7) of the statutes is amended to read:

AB245-engrossed,56,19 70.13 (7) Saw For assessments made before January 1, 2024, saw logs or timber removed from public lands during the year next preceding the first day of January or having been removed from such lands and in transit therefrom on the first day of January, shall be deemed located and assessed in the assessment district wherein such public lands are located and shall be assessed in no other assessment district. Saw logs or timber shall be deemed in transit when the same are being transported. On or before January 10 in each year the owner of such logs or timber shall furnish the assessor of the assessment district wherein they are assessable a verified statement of the amount, character and value of all such logs and timber. If the owner of any such logs or timber shall fail or refuse to furnish such statement or shall intentionally make a false statement, he or she is subject to the penalties prescribed by s. 70.36. This subsection shall supersede any provision of law in conflict therewith. The term “owner" as used in this subsection is deemed to mean the person owning the logs or timber at the time of severing. “Public lands" as used in this subsection shall mean lands owned by the United States of America, the state of Wisconsin or any political subdivision of this state.

AB245-engrossed,82 Section 82 . 70.15 (2) of the statutes is amended to read:

AB245-engrossed,57,7 70.15 (2) The owner of any steam vessel, barge, boat or other water craft, hailing from any port of this state, “and so employed regularly in interstate traffic," desiring to comply with the terms of this section, shall annually, on or before the first day of January, file with the clerk of such town, village or city a verified statement, in writing, containing the name, port of hail, tonnage and name of owner of such steam vessel, barge, boat or other water craft, and shall thereupon pay into the said treasury of such town, village or city a sum equal to one cent per net ton of the registered tonnage of said vessel, and the treasurer shall thereupon issue a receipt. All vessels, boats or other water craft not regularly employed in interstate traffic and all private yachts or pleasure boats belonging to inhabitants of this state, whether at home or abroad, shall be taxed as personal property for taxes levied before January 1, 2024.

AB245-engrossed,83 Section 83 . 70.17 (1) of the statutes is amended to read:

AB245-engrossed,57,17 70.17 (1) Real property shall be entered in the name of the owner, if known to the assessor, otherwise to the occupant thereof if ascertainable, and otherwise without any name. The person holding the contract or certificate of sale of any real property contracted to be sold by the state, but not conveyed, shall be deemed the owner for such purpose. The undivided real estate of any deceased person may be entered to the heirs of such person without designating them by name. The real estate of an incorporated company shall be entered in the same manner as that of an individual. Improvements on leased lands may be assessed either as real property or personal property.

AB245-engrossed,84 Section 84 . 70.17 (3) of the statutes is created to read:

AB245-engrossed,58,11 70.17 (3) Beginning with the property tax assessments as of January 1, 2024, manufactured and mobile homes, not otherwise exempt from taxation under s. 66.0435 (3), buildings, improvements, and fixtures on leased lands, buildings, improvements, and fixtures on exempt lands, buildings, improvements, and fixtures on forest croplands, and buildings, improvements, and fixtures on managed forest lands shall be assessed as real property. If buildings, improvements, and fixtures, but not the underlying land, are leased to a person other than the landowner or if the buildings, improvements, and fixtures are owned by a person other than the landowner, the assessor may create a separate tax parcel for the buildings, improvements, and fixtures and assess the buildings, improvements, and fixtures as real property to the owner of the buildings, improvements, and fixtures. The assessor may also create a tax parcel, as provided under s. 70.27, for buildings, improvements, and fixtures on exempt lands, buildings, improvements, and fixtures on forest croplands, and buildings, improvements, and fixtures on managed forest lands and assess the buildings, improvements, and fixtures as real property to the owner of the buildings, improvements, and fixtures. For purposes of this subsection, “buildings, improvements and fixtures" does not include any property defined in s. 70.04.

AB245-engrossed,85 Section 85 . 70.174 of the statutes is amended to read:

AB245-engrossed,58,17 70.174 Improvements on government-owned land. Improvements made by any person on land within this state owned by the United States may shall be assessed either as real or personal property to the person making the same, if ascertainable, and otherwise to the occupant thereof or the person receiving benefits therefrom, as provided under s. 70.17 (3).

AB245-engrossed,86 Section 86 . 70.18 (1) of the statutes is amended to read:

AB245-engrossed,59,5 70.18 (1) Personal For assessments made before January 1, 2024, personal property shall be assessed to the owner thereof, except that when it is in the charge or possession of some person other than the owner it may be assessed to the person so in charge or possession of the same. Telegraph and telephone poles, posts, railroad ties, lumber, and all other manufactured forest products shall be deemed to be in the charge or possession of the person in occupancy or possession of the premises upon which the same shall be stored or piled, and the same shall be assessed to such person, unless the owner or some other person residing in the same assessment district, shall be actually and actively in charge and possession thereof, in which case it shall be assessed to such resident owner or other person so in actual charge or possession; but nothing contained in this subsection shall affect or change the rules prescribed in s. 70.13 respecting the district in which such property shall be assessed.

AB245-engrossed,87 Section 87 . 70.18 (2) of the statutes is amended to read:

AB245-engrossed,59,12 70.18 (2) Goods For assessments made before January 1, 2024, goods, wares and merchandise in storage in a commercial storage warehouse or on a public wharf shall be assessed to the owner thereof and not to the warehouse or public wharf, if the operator of the warehouse or public wharf furnishes to the assessor the names and addresses of the owners of all goods, wares and merchandise not exempt from taxation.

AB245-engrossed,88 Section 88 . 70.19 of the statutes is amended to read:

AB245-engrossed,59,23 70.19 Assessment, how made; liability and rights of representative. (1) When For assessments made before January 1, 2024, when personal property is assessed under s. 70.18 (1) to a person in charge or possession of the personal property other than the owner, the assessment of that personal property shall be entered upon the assessment roll separately from the assessment of that person's own personal property, adding to the person's name upon the tax roll words briefly indicating that the assessment is made to the person as the person in charge or possession of the property. The failure to enter the assessment separately or to indicate the representative capacity or other relationship of the person assessed shall not affect the validity of the assessment.

AB245-engrossed,60,13 (2) The For assessments made before January 1, 2024, the person assessed under sub. (1) and s. 70.18 (1) is personally liable for the tax on the property. The person assessed under sub. (1) and s. 70.18 (1) has a personal right of action against the owner of the property for the amount of the taxes; has a lien for that amount upon the property with the rights and remedies for the preservation and enforcement of that lien as provided in ss. 779.45 and 779.48; and is entitled to retain possession of the property until the owner of the property pays the tax on the property or reimburses the person assessed for the tax. The lien and right of possession relate back and exist from the time that the assessment is made, but may be released and discharged by giving to the person assessed such undertaking or other indemnity as the person accepts or by giving the person assessed a bond in the amount and with the sureties as is directed and approved by the circuit court of the county in which the property is assessed, upon 8 days' notice to the person assessed. The bond shall be conditioned to hold the person assessed free and harmless from all costs, expense, liability, or damage by reason of the assessment.

AB245-engrossed,89 Section 89 . 70.20 of the statutes is amended to read:

AB245-engrossed,61,3 70.20 Owner's liability when personalty assessed to another; action to collect. (1) When For assessments made before January 1, 2024, when personal property shall be assessed to some person in charge or possession thereof, other than the owner, such owner as well as the person so in charge or possession shall be liable for the taxes levied pursuant to such assessment; and the liability of such owner may be enforced in a personal action as for a debt. Such action may be brought in the name of the town, city or village in which such assessment was made, if commenced before the time fixed by law for the return of delinquent taxes, by direction of the treasurer or tax collector of such town, city or village. If commenced after such a return, it shall be brought in the name of the county or other municipality to the treasurer or other officer of which such return shall be made, by direction of such treasurer or other officer. Such action may be brought in any court of this state having jurisdiction of the amount involved and in which jurisdiction may be obtained of the person of such owner or by attachment of the property of such owner.

AB245-engrossed,61,13 (2) The For assessments made before January 1, 2024, the remedy of attachment may be allowed in such action upon filing an affidavit of the officer by whose direction such action shall be brought, showing the assessment of such property in the assessment district, the amount of tax levied pursuant thereto, that the defendant was the owner of such property at the time as of which the assessment thereof was made, and that such tax remains unpaid in whole or in part, and the amount remaining unpaid. The proceedings in such actions and for enforcement of the judgment obtained therein shall be the same as in ordinary actions for debt as near as may be, but no property shall be exempt from attachment or execution issued upon a judgment against the defendant in such action.

AB245-engrossed,61,24 (3) The For assessments made before January 1, 2024, and taxes levied before January 1, 2024, the assessment and tax rolls in which such assessment and tax shall be entered shall be prima facie evidence of such assessment and tax and of the justice and regularity thereof; and the same, with proof of the ownership of such property by the defendant at the time as of which the assessment was made and of the nonpayment of such tax, shall be sufficient to establish the liability of the defendant. Such liability shall not be affected and such action shall not be defeated by any omission or irregularity in the assessment or tax proceedings not affecting the substantial justice and equity of the tax. The provisions of this section shall not impair or affect the remedies given by other provisions of law for the collection or enforcement of such tax against the person to whom the property was assessed.

AB245-engrossed,90 Section 90 . 70.21 (1) of the statutes is amended to read:

AB245-engrossed,62,5 70.21 (1) Except For assessments made before January 1, 2024, except as provided in sub. (2), the personal property of a partnership may be assessed in the names of the persons composing the partnership, so far as known or in the firm name or title under which the partnership business is conducted, and each partner shall be liable for the taxes levied on the partnership's personal property.

AB245-engrossed,91 Section 91 . 70.21 (1m) (intro.) of the statutes is amended to read:

AB245-engrossed,62,9 70.21 (1m) (intro.) Undistributed For assessments made before January 1, 2024, undistributed personal property belonging to the estate of a decedent shall be assessed as follows:

AB245-engrossed,92 Section 92 . 70.21 (2) of the statutes is amended to read:

AB245-engrossed,62,14 70.21 (2) The For assessments made before January 1, 2024, the personal property of a limited liability partnership shall be assessed in the name of the partnership, and each partner shall be liable for the taxes levied thereon only to the extent permitted under s. 178.0306.

AB245-engrossed,93 Section 93 . 70.22 (1) of the statutes is amended to read:

AB245-engrossed,63,2 70.22 (1) In For assessments made before January 1, 2024, in case one or more of 2 or more personal representatives or trustees of the estate of a decedent who died domiciled in this state are not residents of the state, the taxable personal property belonging to the estate shall be assessed to the personal representatives or trustees residing in this state. In case there are 2 or more personal representatives or trustees of the same estate residing in this state, but in different taxation districts, the assessment of the taxable personal property belonging to the estate shall be in the names of all of the personal representatives or trustees of the estate residing in this state. In case no personal representative or trustee resides in this state, the taxable personal property belonging to the estate may be assessed in the name of the personal representative or trustee, or in the names of all of the personal representatives or trustees if there are more than one, or in the name of the estate.

AB245-engrossed,94 Section 94 . 70.22 (2) (a) of the statutes is amended to read:

AB245-engrossed,63,8 70.22 (2) (a) The For taxes levied before January 1, 2024, the taxes imposed pursuant to an assessment under sub. (1) may be enforced as a claim against the estate, upon presentation of a claim for the taxes by the treasurer of the taxation district to the court in which the proceedings for the probate of the estate are pending. Upon due proof, the court shall allow and order the claim to be paid.

AB245-engrossed,95 Section 95 . 70.27 (1) of the statutes is amended to read:

AB245-engrossed,64,6 70.27 (1) Who may order. Whenever any area of platted or unplatted land or land and the buildings, improvements, and fixtures on that land is owned by 2 or more persons in severalty, and when in the judgment of the governing body having jurisdiction, the description of one or more of the different parcels thereof cannot be made sufficiently certain and accurate for the purposes of assessment, taxation, or tax title procedures without noting the correct metes and bounds of the same, or when such gross errors exist in lot measurements or locations that difficulty is encountered in locating new structures, public utilities, or streets, such governing body may cause a plat to be made for such purposes. Such plat shall be called “assessor's plat," and shall plainly define the boundary of each parcel, building, improvement, and fixture, and each street, alley, lane, or roadway, or dedication to public or special use, as such is evidenced by the records of the register of deeds or a court of record. Such plats in cities may be ordered by the city council, in villages by the village board, in towns by the town board, or the county board. A plat or part of a plat included in an assessor's plat shall be deemed vacated to the extent it is included in or altered by an assessor's plat. The actual and necessary costs and expenses of making assessors' plats shall be paid out of the treasury of the city, village, town, or county whose governing body ordered the plat, and all or any part of such cost may be charged to the land, without inclusion of improvements, so platted in the proportion that the last assessed valuation of each parcel bears to the last assessed total valuation of all lands property included in the assessor's plat, and collected as a special assessment on such land property, as provided by s. 66.0703.

AB245-engrossed,96 Section 96 . 70.27 (3) (a) of the statutes is amended to read:

AB245-engrossed,64,22 70.27 (3) (a) Reference to any land, or land and the buildings, improvements, and fixtures on that land as it the reference appears on a recorded assessor's plat is deemed sufficient for purposes of assessment and taxation. Conveyance may be made by reference to such plat and shall be as effective to pass title to the land so described as it would be if the same premises had been described by metes and bounds. Such plat or record thereof shall be received in evidence in all courts and places as correctly describing the several parcels of land or land and the buildings, improvements, and fixtures on that land therein designated. After an assessor's plat has been made and recorded with the register of deeds as provided by this section, all conveyances of lands or land and the buildings, improvements, and fixtures on that land included in such assessor's plat shall be by reference to such plat. Any instrument dated and acknowledged after September 1, 1955, purporting to convey, mortgage, or otherwise give notice of an interest in land or land and the buildings, improvements, and fixtures on that land that is within or part of an assessor's plat shall describe the affected land by the name of the assessor's plat, lot, block, or outlot.

AB245-engrossed,97 Section 97 . 70.27 (4) of the statutes is amended to read:

AB245-engrossed,65,11 70.27 (4) Amendments. Amendments or corrections to an assessor's plat may be made at any time by the governing body by recording with the register of deeds a plat of the area affected by such amendment or correction, made and authenticated as provided by this section. It shall not be necessary to refer to any amendment of the plat, but all assessments or instruments wherein any parcel of land is or land and the buildings, improvements, and fixtures on that land are described as being in an assessor's plat, shall be construed to mean the assessor's plat of lands or land and the buildings, improvements, and fixtures on that land with its amendments or corrections as it stood on the date of making such assessment or instrument, or such plats may be identified by number. This subsection does not prohibit the division of lands or land and the buildings, improvements, and fixtures on that land that are included in an assessor's plat by subdivision plat, as provided in s. 236.03, or by certified survey map, as provided in s. 236.34.

AB245-engrossed,98 Section 98 . 70.27 (5) of the statutes is amended to read:

AB245-engrossed,66,17 70.27 (5) Surveys, reconciliations. The surveyor making the plat shall be a professional land surveyor licensed under ch. 443 and shall survey and lay out the boundaries of each parcel, building, improvement, fixture, street, alley, lane, roadway, or dedication to public or private use, according to the records of the register of deeds, and whatever evidence that may be available to show the intent of the buyer and seller, in the chronological order of their conveyance or dedication, and set temporary monuments to show the results of such survey which shall be made permanent upon recording of the plat as provided for in this section. The map shall be at a scale of not more than 100 feet per inch, unless waived in writing by the department of administration under s. 236.20 (2) (L). The owners of record of lands or the land and the buildings, improvements, and fixtures on that land in the plat shall be notified by certified letter mailed to their last-known addresses, in order that they shall have opportunity to examine the map, view the temporary monuments, and make known any disagreement with the boundaries as shown by the temporary monuments. It is the duty of the professional land surveyor making the plat to reconcile any discrepancies that may be revealed so that the plat as certified to the governing body is in conformity with the records of the register of deeds as nearly as is practicable. When boundary lines between adjacent parcels, as evidenced on the ground, are mutually agreed to in writing by the owners of record, those lines shall be the true boundaries for all purposes thereafter, even though they may vary from the metes and bounds descriptions previously of record. Such written agreements shall be recorded in the office of the register of deeds. On every assessor's plat, as certified to the governing body, shall appear the document number of the record and, if given on the record, the volume and page where the record is recorded for the record that contains the metes and bounds description of each parcel, as recorded in the office of the register of deeds, which shall be identified with the number by which such parcel is designated on the plat, except that a lot that has been conveyed or otherwise acquired but upon which no deed is recorded in the office of register of deeds may be shown on an assessor's plat and when so shown shall contain a full metes and bounds description.

AB245-engrossed,99 Section 99 . 70.27 (7) (b) of the statutes is amended to read:

AB245-engrossed,66,24 70.27 (7) (b) A clear and concise description of the land or the land and the buildings, improvements, and fixtures on that land so surveyed and mapped, by government lot, quarter quarter-section, township, range and county, or if located in a city or village or platted area, then according to the plat; otherwise by metes and bounds beginning with some corner marked and established in the United States land survey.

AB245-engrossed,100 Section 100 . 70.29 of the statutes is amended to read:

AB245-engrossed,67,9 70.29 Personalty, how entered. The For assessments made before January 1, 2024, the assessor shall place in one distinct and continuous part of the assessment roll all the names of persons assessed for personal property, with a statement of such property in each village in the assessor's assessment district, and foot up the valuation thereof separately; otherwise the assessor shall arrange all names of persons assessed for personal property on the roll alphabetically so far as convenient. The assessor shall also place upon the assessment roll, in a separate column and opposite the name of each person assessed for personal property, the number of the school district in which such personal property is subject to taxation.

AB245-engrossed,101 Section 101 . 70.30 (intro.) of the statutes is amended to read:

AB245-engrossed,67,16 70.30 Aggregate values. (intro.) Every For assessments made before January 1, 2024, every assessor shall ascertain and set down in separate columns prepared for that purpose on the assessment roll and opposite to the names of all persons assessed for personal property the number and value of the following named items of personal property assessed to such person, which shall constitute the assessed valuation of the several items of property therein described, to wit:

AB245-engrossed,102 Section 102 . 70.34 of the statutes is amended to read:

AB245-engrossed,68,4 70.34 Personalty. All For assessments made before January 1, 2024, all articles of personal property shall, as far as practicable, be valued by the assessor upon actual view at their true cash value; and after arriving at the total valuation of all articles of personal property which the assessor shall be able to discover as belonging to any person, if the assessor has reason to believe that such person has other personal property or any other thing of value liable to taxation, the assessor shall add to such aggregate valuation of personal property an amount which, in the assessor's judgment, will render such aggregate valuation a just and equitable valuation of all the personal property liable to taxation belonging to such person. In carrying out the duties imposed on the assessor by this section, the assessor shall act in the manner specified in the Wisconsin property assessment manual provided under s. 73.03 (2a).

AB245-engrossed,103 Section 103 . 70.345 of the statutes is amended to read:

AB245-engrossed,68,13 70.345 Legislative intent; department of revenue to supply information. The For assessments made before January 1, 2024, the assessor shall exercise particular care so that personal property as a class on the assessment rolls bears the same relation to statutory value as real property as a class. To assist the assessor in determining the true relationship between real estate and personal property the department of revenue shall make available to local assessors information including figures indicating the relationship between personal property and real property on the last assessment rolls.

AB245-engrossed,104 Section 104 . 70.35 (1) of the statutes is amended to read:

AB245-engrossed,68,24 70.35 (1) To For assessments made before January 1, 2024, to determine the amount and value of any personal property for which any person, firm, or corporation should be assessed, any assessor may examine such person or the managing agent or officer of any firm or corporation under oath as to all such items of personal property, the taxable value thereof as defined in s. 70.34 if the property is taxable. In the alternative the assessor may require such person, firm, or corporation to submit a return of such personal property and of the taxable value thereof. There shall be annexed to such return the declaration of such person or of the managing agent or officer of such firm or corporation that the statements therein contained are true.

AB245-engrossed,105 Section 105 . 70.35 (2) of the statutes is amended to read:

AB245-engrossed,69,11 70.35 (2) The For assessments made before January 1, 2024, the return shall be made and all the information therein requested given by such person on a form prescribed by the assessor with the approval of the department of revenue which shall provide suitable schedules for such information bearing on value as the department deems necessary to enable the assessor to determine the true cash value of the taxable personal property that is owned or in the possession of such person on January 1 as provided in s. 70.10. The return may contain methods of deriving assessable values from book values and for the conversion of book values to present values, and a statement as to the accounting method used. No person shall be required to take detailed physical inventory for the purpose of making the return required by this section.

AB245-engrossed,106 Section 106 . 70.35 (3) of the statutes is amended to read:

AB245-engrossed,69,20 70.35 (3) Each For assessments made before January 1, 2024, each return shall be filed with the assessor on or before March 1 of the year in which the assessment provided by s. 70.10 is made. The assessor, for good cause, may allow a reasonable extension of time for filing the return. All returns filed under this section shall be the confidential records of the assessor's office, except that the returns shall be available for use before the board of review as provided in this chapter. No return required under this section is controlling on the assessor in any respect in the assessment of any property.

AB245-engrossed,107 Section 107 . 70.35 (4) of the statutes is amended to read:

AB245-engrossed,70,3 70.35 (4) Any For assessments made before January 1, 2024, any person, firm or corporation who refuses to so testify or who fails, neglects or refuses to make and file the return of personal property required by this section shall be denied any right of abatement by the board of review on account of the assessment of such personal property unless such person, firm, or corporation shall make such return to such board of review together with a statement of the reasons for the failure to make and file the return in the manner and form required by this section.

AB245-engrossed,108 Section 108 . 70.35 (5) of the statutes is amended to read:

AB245-engrossed,70,8 70.35 (5) In For assessments made before January 1, 2024, in the event that the assessor or the board of review should desire further evidence they may call upon other persons as witnesses to give evidence under oath as to the items and value of the personal property of any such person, firm or corporation.

AB245-engrossed,109 Section 109 . 70.36 (1) of the statutes is amended to read:

AB245-engrossed,70,19 70.36 (1) Any For assessments made before January 1, 2024, any person in this state owning or holding any personal property that is subject to assessment, individually or as agent, trustee, guardian, personal representative, assignee, or receiver or in some other representative capacity, who intentionally makes a false statement to the assessor of that person's assessment district or to the board of review of the assessment district with respect to the property, or who omits any property from any return required to be made under s. 70.35, with the intent of avoiding the payment of the just and proportionate taxes on the property, shall forfeit the sum of $10 for every $100 or major fraction of $100 so withheld from the knowledge of the assessor or board of review.

AB245-engrossed,110 Section 110 . 70.36 (2) of the statutes is amended to read:

AB245-engrossed,71,4 70.36 (2) It For assessments made before January 1, 2024, it is hereby made the duty of the district attorney of any county, upon complaint made to the district attorney by the assessor or by a member of the board of review of the assessment district in which it is alleged that property has been so withheld from the knowledge of such assessor or board of review, or not included in any return required by s. 70.35, to investigate the case forthwith and bring an action in the name of the state against the person, firm or corporation so complained of. All forfeitures collected under the provisions of this section shall be paid into the treasury of the taxation district in which such property had its situs for taxation.