Section 70.04. Definition of personal property.

  In chs. 70 to 79 , “personal property" includes all of the following:

(1g)  All goods, wares, merchandise, chattels, and effects, of any nature or description, having any real or marketable value, and not included in the term “real property," as defined in s. 70.03 .

(1r)  Toll bridges; private railroads and bridges; saw logs, timber, and lumber, either upon land or afloat; steamboats, ships, and other vessels, whether at home or abroad; ferry boats, including the franchise for running the same; ice cut and stored for use, sale, or shipment; beginning May 1, 1974, manufacturing machinery and equipment as defined in s. 70.11 (27) , and entire property of companies defined in s. 76.28 (1) , located entirely within one taxation district.

(2)  Irrigation implements used by a farmer, including pumps, power units to drive the pumps, transmission units, sprinkler devices, and sectional piping.

(3)  An off-premises advertising sign. In this subsection, “ off-premises advertising sign" means a sign that does not advertise the business or activity that occurs at the site where the sign is located.

1973 c. 90 ; 1973 c. 336 s. 36 ; 1979 c. 89 ; 1983 a. 27 s. 2202 (45) ; 1995 a. 225 ; 2013 a. 20 ; 2015 a. 196 . Billboard permits are real property, as defined in s. 70.03. The income attributable to the permit is properly included in the real property tax assessment, not the personal property tax assessment of the billboard. Any value attributable to the billboard permits is not inextricably intertwined with the structure of the billboards. The primary value of the permits is unrelated to the structures; rather, the primary value of the permits appertains to the location of the underlying real estate. Adams Outdoor Advertising, Ltd. v. City of Madison, 2006 WI 104 , 294 Wis. 2d 441 , 717 N.W.2d 803 , 05-0508 .