70.74 Lien of reassessed tax.

(1) Whenever any tax or assessment or any part thereof levied on real estate, whether heretofore or hereafter levied, shall have been set aside or determined to be illegal or void or the collection thereof prevented by the judgment of a court or the action of the county board; or whenever any town, city or village treasurer shall have been prevented by injunction from collecting or returning as delinquent any such tax or assessment in consequence of any irregularity or error in any of the proceedings in the assessment of such real estate, the levy of such tax or the proceedings for its collection, or of any erroneous or imperfect description of such real estate, or of any omission to comply with any form or step required by law, or of the affixing of a revenue stamp to the tax certificate, and including the amount thereof in the same, or the including of any illegal addition with the lawful tax, or for any other cause, then, if the real estate was properly taxable or assessable, if it be not a proper case to collect by inclusion of the land in the tax certificate next issued under s. 74.57, such tax, or so much thereof as shall not have been collected and as may be taxable or assessable thereto may be reassessed or relevied upon such real estate at any time within 3 years after such judgment or such action of the county board or the dissolution of such injunction; and the proper town board, village board, board of trustees or common council shall make an order directing the same to be reassessed upon such real estate, and the clerk shall insert the same in the tax roll, opposite such real estate, in a separate column, as an additional tax, and the same shall be collected as a part of the tax for the year when so placed on the roll. Any such school district tax shall be so reassessed and relevied on the order of the town board; but the provisions of this section shall not be construed as conflicting with, limiting or in any way affecting the reassessment provided for in ss. 75.54 and 75.55. The lien of any tax reassessed as provided in this section shall attach to the land as of the date when such tax as originally levied became a lien and shall continue and constitute the lien of any tax certificate issued which includes such lands for such reassessed tax.

(2) Whenever any tax or assessment or any part thereof levied on real estate shall have been set aside or determined to be illegal or void or the collection thereof prevented by the judgment of a court or the action of the county board and such tax or assessment shall not be justly reassessable, the county board may order such tax or assessment to be charged back to the respective town, city or village wherein such lands are situated in the next apportionment of county taxes, provided that the amount so charged back shall not include any tax or assessment the illegality of which is solely attributable to erroneous action by the county or its officers.

History: 1987 a. 378.