Taxes are collected both against real and personal property. Separate listings in the tax roll show the differing information relevant to each category's assessment and collection. The real estate portion of the tax roll lists the owner's name, a description of the property by plat name and block and lot number or by parcel number, valuation, and amount of taxes levied for the city, county state, school district, or for special funds like the road tax or poor tax. Since 1901, the assessed value of the land and of the improvements on it have been listed separately. Special assessments and special charges against the property for the construction and maintenance of streets, sidewalks, storm and sanitary sewers, curbs and gutters, and water mains are also included. Additional columns record payments, including delinquent or delayed amounts.
The personal property portion of the tax roll contains in the early years only summary information: name of owner, value of property, taxes levied, and a record of payment. More recent tax rolls have contained more descriptive information about the nature of the property taxed, listing such categories as cattle, sheep, swine, leaf tobacco, jewelry and precious stones, stocks, boats and motors, machine tools, patterns and equipment, furniture, fixtures, equipment, merchant's stock, and other property. The fragmentary tax roll for 1869 contains particularly detailed descriptions of the categories of property taxed. In 1920, a surtax was collected on personal property to pay benefits to veterans of World War I.
Personal property rolls for 1913 and 1944-1950 were missing at the time these records were microfilmed.
Arrangement
The real estate portion of the tax roll is arranged by parcel identifiers, not by the owners' names.
Entries in the tax rolls from 1839 to 1932 are identified by their legal descriptions. These consist either of the name of the plat (subdivision) and the block and lots numbers therein or of a survey description consisting of the town, range, and section numbers, and sub-section description.
Within the tax rolls, the arrangement of entries is not consistent prior to 1933. Generally, they are grouped by subdivision and arranged numerically thereunder. Arrangement of the subdivisions themselves varies. For some years, an index to their organization appears at the front of the first volume. Agricultural, manufacturing, exempt, and newly annexed or platted properties are frequently listed at the end of the roll.
In 1933, a system for numbering each unique tax parcel replaced the lengthier legal descriptions for tax collection purposes. Tax rolls have been arranged numerically by these parcel numbers since then. In 1933, the tax roll was also divided into separate volumes for the east and west sides of the city. In 1569, a new, uniform twelve-digit numbering system replaced the earlier parcel numbering arrangement.
Personal property rolls have always been arranged alphabetically by the name of the property owner. (Personal property taxes are levied against the property owner, whereas real estate taxes are levied against the property.) Prior to 1925, personal property taxes appeared at the end of the real estate roll. Since that time, separate volumes have been kept for personal property and real estate taxes.
Indexes
Personal property rolls are arranged alphabetically by the name of the property owner and are, therefore, self-indexing.
Real estate rolls are arranged by parcel identifiers, not by the owners' names. (Different parcel identifiers have been used at different times in the past. Each is described fully in the previous section on Arrangement.) Researchers wishing to use these records may find it necessary first to consult one or more indexes to determine the correct parcel identifier so that the appropriate entry in the tax roll may be located. Different indexes will be required, depending on the time period involved and the type of information known about the property.
I. 1839-1932
For tax rolls from 1839 to 1932, the legal description of the property is necessary to locate the appropriate entry in the real estate tax roll. If it is not known, the legal description can be found in one of the following two ways.
1. If the street address is known , consult Dane Series 104, “Assessment Roll-Street Number Order, 1980,” which gives the legal description for each tax parcel and is arranged alphabetically by street name and thereunder by house number. Researchers must be aware, however, that these 1980 legal descriptions may differ from the legal descriptions used in previous years, particularly in areas which have been platted or replatted since that time. For example, a rural area which is platted into lots and annexed into the city will have a new legal description after it has been platted. This new legal description will not correctly identify the property on tax rolls for years prior to the platting. If the property has changed in this way, the older description must be identified in order to locate the correct entry in earlier tax rolls. The best source for such legal descriptions is the deed and mortgage records filed with the county Register of Deeds. These are indexed in the Register's Grantor/Grantee Indexes. (For early Dane County deed records and their indexes, consult Dane Series 98, “Deeds,” and Dane Series 99, “Grantor/Grantee Indexes.”)
2. If only the owner's name is known , consult city directories and city telephone directories (available in the Society's Library) in order to find a street address. If unsuccessful there, check the Register of Deed's “Grantor/Grantee Indexes” as described in paragraph one above. These indexes are arranged both by the names of the sellers (grantors) and the purchasers (grantees) of real estate and give a legal description of the property.
II. 1933-1968
Tax rolls from 1933-1968 are arranged numerically by the seven digit parcel number used at that time. (Note: No 1968 rolls are in the Archives' custody.) If it is not known, the parcel number can be identified in one of the following ways. Each requires that the user first identify the current parcel number (the twelve digit number used since 1970) for that property and from that identify the older parcel number (that used between 1933 and 1969) which is associated with the tax parcel in question.
1. If the street address is known , consult either Dane Series 100, “Street Index to Parcel Numbers,” or Dane Series 104, “Assessment Roll-Street Number Order.” Both are arranged by street name and number and list current parcel numbers. The current parcel number should then be checked in Dane Series 102, “Parcel Number Cross-Reference Index,” which will give the older parcel number used from 1933 to 1968 for each new parcel number.
2. If the legal description is known , check Dane Series 101, “Plat Index to Parcel Numbers,” which cross-refers from legal descriptions to current parcel numbers. The current parcel number must then be located in Dane Series 102, “Parcel Number Cross-Reference Index” which will list the older parcel number used between 1939 and 1968. The researcher must be aware that Dane Series 101 lists current legal descriptions which may differ from the legal descriptions used in the tax rolls in previous years, particularly in areas which have been platted or replatted since that time. For example, a rural area which is platted into lots and annexed into the city will have a new legal description after it has been platted. This new legal description will not correctly identify the property on tax rolls for years prior to the platting.
If the property has changed in this way, the older description must be identified in order to locate the correct entry in the tax roll. The best source for such legal descriptions is the deed and mortgage records filed with the county Register of Deeds. These are indexed in the Register's Grantor/Grantee Indexes. (For early Dane County deed records and their indexes, consult Dane Series 98, “Deeds,” and Dane Series 99, “Grantor/Grantee Indexes.”)
3. If the current owner's name is known , consult Dane Series 103, “Owner Index to Parcel Numbers,” which lists current parcel numbers by the owner's name. Dane Series 102, “Parcel Number Cross-Reference Index,” will provide the appropriate, older parcel number.
III. Since 1969
Tax rolls since 1969 have been arranged numerically by the current twelve-digit parcel number. (Note: Tax rolls for years since 1969 are not yet processed and described in this finding aid.) If it is not known, the current parcel number can be found in one of the following three ways.
1. If the street address is known , consult either Dane Series 100, “Street Index to Parcel Numbers,” or Dane Series 104, “Assessment Roll-Street Number Order.” Both are arranged by street name and number and list current parcel numbers.
2. If the legal description is known , check Dane Series 101, “Plat Index to Parcel Numbers,” which cross-refers from legal descriptions to current parcel numbers. Researchers must be aware that these two series show current legal descriptions which may not properly describe property listed in older tax rolls. Where this occurs, the older legal description must be obtained from the Register of Deed's records as described previously.
3. If the current owner's name is known , consult Dane Series 103, “Owner Index to Parcel Numbers,” which lists current parcel numbers by the owner's name.
