OCONTO FALLS – The Oconto Falls Board of Review accepted the assessment roll at an Oct. 1 meeting, including double-digit increases in valuations for many properties that pushed their value to over $200,000.
The higher property values reflect increases in construction costs and property appreciation as well as supply and demand.
“Homes are selling for more because of scarcity,” said City Administrator Peter Wills.
“For 10 years, we were behind in building homes so even the older homes are selling for more because it’s going to cost more to rebuild.”
While most property owners will see their property value has increased substantially since 2008, the year of the last reassessment, the state imposes a levy limit to ensure their property tax bills don’t skyrocket, said Wills.
Last year, the city council approved a 2% increase in the levy, holding the line by making some cuts, Wills said.
“We’ve worked really hard to keep a conservative budget. Just because the assessed value of your property is going up doesn’t mean it’s going to be related to the budget,” Wills said.
“We’re trying to stay within that 3% range.”
Wills said he hopes to have a preliminary 2026 budget by the end of November.
On Oct. 1, the Board of Review accepted the assessment roll as presented. The board approved one motion dismissing an objection for nonappearance.
The city commissioned Accurate Assessing to handle assessments.
The board is required to approve the assessment roll before it is delivered to the state by Oct. 6, where the numbers are used to create the levy limit used for the city’s budget. The property tax levy is one component of the city’s overall budget, and often the one property owners pay the most attention to.
Within city limits are about 1,177 residential properties, including 992 with “improvements” or homes and 206 commercial properties, including 164 with improvements. The city also has about 125 exempt properties. The total residential property value rose 91% to $200.4 million from $104.8 million due to property re-evaluations, Wills said. Total commercial property value increased about 38% to $71.5 million from $51.5 million in 2024.
The average value of a residential parcel in Oconto Falls is about $171,000, but when vacant lots are omitted, the average value of homes is about $203,000, according to the assessment roll.
With the last reassessment conducted about 17 years ago in 2008, the assessors visited new construction buildings to determine their valuations and some with permitted projects, Wills said. Other properties will receive notices of walk-around visits in the coming months, he said.
What the city’s 2026 budget will look like isn’t yet known as the budget isn’t expected to be approved until November. With an increase in valuations, the millage rate could go down while the amount of property taxes collected increases because of the increase in property valuations, Wills said.
Newer homes often sell for higher prices than older ones. These prices also can affect the total value of other residential properties, though the assessor considers age, size and construction.
One example of the higher end of residential real estate in the city of Oconto Falls is a property on W. Highland Drive with a total value of $990,600. The annual property tax for the address was $21,602.
The property, with about 300 feet of Oconto River waterfront access, was recently on the market for about $1.2 million but didn’t sell, according to Realtor.com, though this information wasn’t confirmed.
In comparison, a 1,740-square-foot four-bedroom, two-bath home on 1.53 acres on Hemlock Lane was priced at $439,900 in November 2024 and sold for about $380,000 in March.
More typical among three-bedroom homes are properties valued at between $200,000 and $350,000, according to real-estate companies. Realtor.com reported the median list price for Oconto Falls homes was $360,000 in October, while the median sold price was $277,000.
Comments
No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here