University of Wisconsin La Crosse Foundation, Inc. v. Town of Washington

The University of Wisconsin — La Crosse Foundation, Inc. (Foundation) owns eleven parcels of real estate in the Town of Washington, La Crosse County, where it maintains an arboretum and nature center known as "Norskedalen." Section 70.11(20), STATS., exempts from general property taxes real and personal property owned and used as is Nor-skedalen. However, § 70.11(20) provides that the "exemption afforded by this subsection shall not be granted unless and until the county board of the county in which such property is located has approved thereof."

The La Crosse County Board denied the…