BCTA v. Brown County
Case Name: Brown County Taxpayers Association v. Brown County
Type of Case: Sales Tax Challenge; Good Government
Court: Brown County Circuit Court
Case Number: 18-cv-13; 18-cv-640
Filed On: January 2, 2018; May 23, 2018
Current Status: Case dismissed on notice of claims grounds and refiled; Pending circuit court decision
Wisconsin law permits counties to impose a 0.5% sales tax, but “only for the purpose of directly reducing the property tax levy.” When a county sales tax is imposed, taxpayers should see a significant reduction in the county portion of their property taxes.
Brown County created a new sales tax to go into effect on January 1, 2018, but is not using that revenue to lower people’s property taxes. Instead, the County is using it to pay for a slew of new projects, including museum exhibits, an expo hall, and a new research center.
On behalf of the Brown County Taxpayers Association and a local taxpayer, we sued to challenge the sales tax. The court dismissed the case for failure to serve a notice of claim on the County before suing, despite our argument that notices aren’t necessary when seeking a temporary injunction to immediately halt illegal government activity. We filed a new notice of claim and the case has been refiled. A hearing was held on August 29, 2019, and we are awaiting a ruling from the judge.
CASE DOCUMENTS
- PDF: Summons and Complaint (With Exhibits)
- PDF: Plantiffs Temporary Injunction Brief
- PDF: Brown County Motion to Dismiss Brief
- PDF: Brown County Answer
- PDF: Plantiffs Response to MTD
- PDF: DOR Response to MTD
- PDF: DOR TI Response Brief
- PDF: Brown County TI Response
- PDF: Brown County MTD Reply
- PDF: Plantiffs TI Reply
- PDF: DOR Answer
- PDF: Decision and Order Dismissing Case
- PDF: Complaint
- PDF: Answer, Counterclaim, Third-Party Complaint
- PDF: Brown County Answer to Counterclaim
- PDF: BCTA Summary Judgement Brief
- PDF: County Summary Judgement Brief
- PDF: County Response Brief
- PDF: BCTA Response Brief
- PDF: Wisconsin Counties Association Amicus Brief
- PDF: County Reply Brief
- PDF: BCTA Reply Brief
- PDF: Order Granting Amicus Motion
- PDF: Third Party Defendant’s Motion to File Affidavit
- PDF: Defendant Third Party Plantiffs Motion to Take Judicial Notice
- PDF: Decision