Saint John's Communities, Inc. v. City of Milwaukee, 982 N.W.2d 78

Saint John’s owns a continuing-care retirement community in Milwaukee that the City treated as tax-exempt from 2010–2018; after renovations the City determined the property was taxable for 2019.
Saint John’s filed a § 74.35 claim to recover unlawful taxes on November 8, 2019 (before the City levied the tax); the City levied the tax on November 27, 2019.
Saint John’s filed a second § 74.35 claim on December 5, 2019 (the day the 2019 tax bill issued) but did not pay any portion of the tax until January 22, 2020.
The City disallowed the claims as premature for failure to pay before filing; Saint John’s sued and the circuit court denied the City’s motion to dismiss and granted partial summary judgment to Saint John’s.
The court of appeals reversed, holding Saint John’s § 74.35 claim was procedurally deficient because it did not pay the tax (or an authorized installment) before filing; the Wisconsin Supreme Court affirmed.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether Wis. Stat. § 74.35 requires payment of the challenged tax (or an authorized installment) before filing a claim to recover unlawful taxes	Saint John's: § 74.35 contains no prepayment requirement; only requires that tax and claim be timely paid/filed by Jan. 31 of the year tax is payable	City: § 74.35(2)(a) requires a person be “aggrieved by the levy and collection,” which only exists after payment (or authorized installment) — so pay first, then file	The court held § 74.35(2)(a) requires payment (or an authorized installment) before filing; Saint John’s claim was procedurally deficient and dismissal was proper

Data Key Partners v. Permira Advisers LLC, 356 Wis. 2d 665 (standard of review for motion to dismiss)
Estate of Miller v. Storey, 378 Wis. 2d 358 (statutory interpretation reviewed de novo)
State ex rel. Kalal v. Cir. Ct. for Dane Cnty., 271 Wis. 2d 633 (plain-meaning approach to statutory construction)
Seider v. O'Connell, 236 Wis. 2d 211 (use of ordinary meaning and technical definitions in statutory interpretation)
Hermann v. Town of Delavan, 215 Wis. 2d 370 (distinguishing exemption claims from excessive-assessment processes)