West Allis revaluations postponed until 2013

The citywide reassessment of West Allis properties for taxing purposes will be postponed from next year until 2013, the West Allis Common Council decided Tuesday night.

Normally, the city reassesses properties every two years to make sure all property owners pay their fair shares of property taxes. The last revaluation was in 2010, which was the first in six years. The reason for the delay in updating properties was the housing crash that made the housing market turbulent and depressed values.

Real estate is still down, which is one of the reasons for putting off the revaluation. Another is that the clerk's office will be too busy next year, a presidential election year, to play its usual role in helping with revaluations.

Also, the assessor's office would like to save some money. The cost of revaluations is $15,000 to $16,000 in postage alone.

Finally, the assessor's office has to make 19,000 building sketches digital next year because of new state requirements. That will put a strain on staff time.