74.59 Notice of issuance of tax certificate.

(1) Notice of issuance of tax certificate.

(a) Within 90 days after issuance of the tax certificate under s. 74.57, the county treasurer shall mail a notice to each owner of record, as shown in the tax roll, of property included in the certificate for which real property taxes, special assessments, special charges or special taxes remain unpaid as of the date the notice is mailed. Unless it is issued by a city authorized to act under s. 74.87, the notice shall state all of the following:

1. That real property taxes, special assessments, special charges or special taxes remain unpaid as of the date of mailing on property which the tax roll shows is owned by the addressee.

2. That the records showing the delinquency under subd. 1. are available for inspection in the treasurer's office.

3. That, on the previous September 1, a tax certificate was issued to the county for all property for which real property taxes, special assessments, special charges or special taxes remained unpaid at the close of business on August 31.

4. That failure to pay the delinquent real property taxes, special charges, special taxes or special assessments will result in eventual transfer, no earlier than 2 years after issuance of the tax certificate, of the ownership of the property to the county.

(b) The format of the notice under this subsection shall be prescribed by the department of revenue under s. 70.09 (3).

(2) Notice not timely mailed. If a treasurer fails to mail the notice required under sub. (1), the notice may be mailed later and the 2-year period of redemption commences on the date of the mailing.

(3) Affidavit of mailing. After completing the mailing under sub. (1) or (2), the treasurer, except the treasurer of a city authorized to proceed under s. 74.87, shall sign an affidavit attesting that the treasurer has complied with the mailing requirements under this section. The affidavit shall do all of the following:

(a) Identify the property owners and the addresses to which the notice was mailed.

(b) Contain a description of each parcel of property, as shown on the tax certificate, for which a notice was mailed.

(c) State the amount of unpaid real property taxes, special assessments, special charges or special taxes for each description of property included under par. (b).

(4) Effect of not receiving notice. Failure of a person to receive a notice under this section does not affect the ability of a county or city to acquire ownership of property for which a tax certificate has been issued.

History: 1987 a. 378; 1991 a. 39.