Lake Home Owner Was Being Taxed For Part of Lake

Hey, lake property owners, check your deeds.  You might be able to save some money. 

A northwest Wisconsin couple who own lakefront property was able to lower their property tax bill because they were being taxed on land the state says they can’t own—nearly 13 acres of Young Lake.

Wayne Anderson of rural Frederic is convinced other lakefront property owners—maybe tens of thousands—are in the same situation and a state senator wants the state Department of Natural Resources to look into the matter.

At issue is private property owners having deeds—like Anderson—that indicate their property includes part the lake bed that the DNR says is owned by the public under the state Constitution and shouldn’t be taxed because it can’t be bought and sold.

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The state Constitution says all navigable waters are “common highways and forever free.”

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When he learned nearly 13 acres of it was a lake bed that the state said he couldn’t own, he was refunded about $12,200 by the real estate company that was involved in the sale, he said.

He used those figures to convince his local assessor to lower the value of the property for tax purposes from $193,100 to $180,900 in 2005—enough that it helped reduce his taxes about $60, Anderson said.

“People have illegally purchased public-lake lands and continually pay taxes on the land. And the added rub is, the state knows about it,” he said.