OSHKOSH (NBC 26) — Property tax season in Oshkosh confuses homeowners as bills increase despite a decrease in tax levy; city council disagrees over how to answer lingering questions.
- Many Oshkosh homeowners are confused over increase in property tax, despite a decrease in tax levy from 2024.
- City council member Paul Esslinger and Mayor Matt Mugerauer got into a verbal spat over a possible public informational meeting.
- Esslinger plans to host a public meeting to address property tax concerns.
Matt Mikkelsen has lived in Oshkosh for 20 years. He's a landlord and says his property taxes went up 20% this year.
"As a landlord, that's something that will eventually get passed onto my tenants," he says.
Mikkelsen says certain details behind the increase are hard to understand.
"If I don't understand why, it makes it very infuriating," he says.
He's not the only one.
Council member Paul Esslinger says he's received many calls from constituents asking questions about their property tax bill.
"There's a list of many, many things and when I started explaining each one of these, people were saying 'oh, okay I get it, I don't like it... but now that I understand how I got there, I get it'," Esslinger says.
The City of Oshkosh has tried to mitigate some confusion by posting an FAQ section on their website and creating informational videos.
Deputy Mayor Karl Buelow tells NBC26 that all the information needed to generally understand the increase is online. He also says council members are available to take calls or meet in person to discuss individual tax bills.
Esslinger says the City can do more to help ease confusion. At the Jan. 14 meeting, he suggested the council hold a public meeting where taxpayers can ask questions directly.
Council chose to address his suggestion at the following meeting because Mayor Matt Mugerauer was not present.
At the Jan. 28 common council meeting, Esslinger brought the idea to the council again. The majority of the council members were against the idea.
"I don't think it's the right venue or the right atmosphere to try and answer questions," Mayor Mugerauer said at the meeting.
Mikkelsen spoke during public comment, expressing support for the meeting.
"It would be nice to go in to city council and say 'help me understand what's going on here'," Mikkelsen says.
Deputy Mayor Buelow says a public meeting would be "pointless and redundant," as the necessary information is already posted online.
Buelow also says it is "disingenuous" for Esslinger to call for a public meeting when council members can meet with constituents at any time.
"Quite frankly, when I brought this on the agenda, I thought this was going to be 7-0... and when I started getting people saying no, I was flabbergasted, I couldn't believe it," Esslinger says. "Like guys, this is what we do, we represent people. Then we got 'well, the information's out there, all you have to do is look for it.' No, you don't say that."
At the Jan. 28 meeting, Esslinger was visibly upset over the council's reaction, saying they should be "ashamed" for not wanting to host a public meeting.
Council member Jacob Floam and council member Kris Larson also expressed interest in the meeting.
Esslinger and Mayor Mugerauer got into a tense verbal disagreement at the meeting.
Mugerauer did not respond to request for comment on this story.
Legally, Esslinger cannot host a public meeting with more than two council members without getting the entire council's approval.
Esslinger plans to host the meeting on his own with Larson.
On Feb. 10 Esslinger and Floam will host a public meeting with Rep. Lori Palmeri (D) to address a variety of topics.
