WGLB Scholarship v. City of Milwaukee, 2019AP002352

WGLB Scholarship (WGLB) owns real property in Milwaukee leased to a church and claims tax-exempt status under Wis. Stat. § 70.11(4).
WGLB filed an administrative exemption request with the City, which was denied, then filed a § 74.35 suit in circuit court on June 4, 2019 to recover the 2018 property tax as unlawful.
WGLB paid its 2018 tax by ten monthly installments but failed to deliver the March installment by the March 31 due date; the March check was placed in a lockbox around April 16 and the late penalty was paid with April’s installment.
WGLB had paid $4,731.35 of the assessed tax under protest and did not dispute the City’s payment-history facts.
The City moved to dismiss under Wis. Stat. § 74.35(5)(c) (requiring timely payment under § 74.87 to maintain a claim), arguing the untimely March payment defeated jurisdiction; the circuit court denied the motion.
The Court of Appeals reversed, holding WGLB failed to satisfy the statute’s timely-payment requirement and directing dismissal of the complaint.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether an untimely single installment payment prevents maintaining a § 74.35 claim	WGLB: any one authorized installment need be timely; a single late installment that does not render the balance delinquent should not bar a claim	City: § 74.35(5)(c) requires timely payment as defined by § 74.87(7); March payment was not timely, so claim barred	Held: Payment must satisfy § 74.87(7)’s definition of "timely." March payment did not, so claim cannot be maintained
Whether each installment creates a separate claim for the same tax assessment	WGLB: separate installments could be treated as separate payments supporting a claim	City: the tax assessment is singular and § 74.35 authorizes one claim per assessment	Held: There is one claim per tax assessment; installments are credits toward that single assessment and do not create separate claims

Noffke ex rel. Swenson v. Bakke, 315 Wis. 2d 350 (2009) (statutory interpretation reviewed independently)
State ex rel. Kalal v. Circuit Ct. for Dane Cnty., 271 Wis. 2d 633 (2004) (rules for reading statute text in context to give effect to each word)