Open Book

2025 is a maintenance year for Elm Grove: Open book and Board of Review 

The time frame for 2025, Open Book, Board of Review:
The Assessment Notices are scheduled to be mailed on June 24, 2025. Notices will be sent to all property owners. At that time, property owners are being notified that appointments may be scheduled for an individual open book review between June 27, 2025 thru July 11th, 2025. A preliminary 2025 Assessment Roll will be available for review in Village Hall, at the Village Clerk’s office, the front hallway, and the library during regular business hours. 

Open Book:
Every year, the Assessor's office prepares a preliminary assessment roll. This reflects property values as of January 1 each year. The Open Book Review period starts this year on June 27th, 2025

Open Book Review takes place by appointment or through the process of the “LIGHT YELLOW” Request to Review My Property Sheets” that are mailed out with the notices.

The Open Book Review period is set aside to answer property owners' questions and correct obvious clerical errors in compiling the assessment roll. If a mistake was made, or if there is evidence that the assessment is different than the actual fair market value of the property, the Assessor's Office will review the facts and may make appropriate adjustments. The best evidence of value is a recent arm’s length sale of the property or sales of comparable properties.

What to Bring to Open Book:
The Open Book meeting is an opportunity to present factual data about the value of your property to the assessment staff. Some examples of factual data include, but are not limited to:

  • Copies of building plans with dimensions (if the square footage is not correct) 
  • A recent appraisal of the property that is less than two years old
  • Current interior/exterior photographs show the property's condition is less than the average expected condition for the property's age. Some examples that might impact the assessed value include, but are not limited to, structural damage, significant water leaks, pest damage, or long-term deferred maintenance of the roof, siding, and windows.
  • Purchase price of the property if it was purchased in the last year.
  • Recent sales prices of similar properties in the neighborhood
  • Estimates for unfinished repair work and/or receipts for completed repair work 

What to Expect at Open Book:
During the meeting, which lasts 10-20 minutes, you will meet with assessment staff to review data about your property. This review will include the size, age, condition, number of bathrooms, and other physical characteristics of your property. You can ask any questions that will help you understand the assessment process. This is also an opportunity to present factual data regarding different opinions about the value of your property. Examples could be sales of similar properties in your neighborhood.

The assessment staff you meet will gather data during this meeting and review your property's value. The review will be completed by assessment staff after the Open Book meetings have been completed. Once the Open Book period is closed, you will be notified by mail or email of the results of the property review.

Once you receive the results, if you still believe the value is not an accurate estimate of your property value, you may proceed to the Board of Review. 

Formal Objections:
After reviewing your assessment with the Assessor's Office, owners who still believe their property's value is overstated may file formal written objections with the Board of Review (BOR). Objections must be submitted to the Village Clerk on forms available in the Village Clerk's Office.

Formal objections may proceed to a formal hearing before the Board of Review. Like a court, the Board of Review is responsible for resolving differences of opinion on valuation based on factual data. The Board hears oral testimony and evidence from the property owner and the Assessor's staff. After hearing the evidence, the Board may lower, raise, or sustain the assessment.

Board of Review:
The Board of Review will convene on July 21, 2025 at 6:00 pm at the Village Hall, to review and examine all sworn statements and valuations of real property therein and correct all errors in said roll, whether in the description of the property or otherwise, to perform such other duties imposed by law, and to schedule appointments and conduct hearings. Starting June 27th, 2025, you may contact the Village Clerk’s office to obtain appropriate paperwork. Once the paperwork is completed in its entirety, you may contact the Village Clerk’s office to schedule a Board of Review appointment. 

If you have any questions, please get in touch with me at:

Assessor’s Office:
Assessor: Jeff Thornton
assessor@elmgrovewi.org
262 780-6647