School Districts Drive Up Property Taxes by 4.5% - The Largest Increase in a Decade

Nass:  Wisconsin Becoming a Tax Hell – Once Again. 

      Senator Steve Nass (R-Whitewater) is warning Wisconsinites that property tax increases are once again leading the way to our state becoming a Tax Hell.  A new report from the Wisconsin Policy Forum on property taxes confirms what other sources have also suggested would occur this year – property owners are facing some of the worst tax bills in at least a decade. 

“School districts are levying a massive $220 million dollar increase this year or a 4.5% increase.  Additionally, counties increased their levies by 2.2% and Technical College Districts by another 3.1%.  Middle class families across Wisconsin are feeling the pain this December because Governor Evers and too many Republicans in the Legislature passed a state budget that failed to protect them,” Nass said.

     Nass noted the new analysis by the Wisconsin Policy Forum doesn’t include the 2019 levies adopted by local municipal governments (towns, villages and cities).  The new report accurately describes that the increases in school district levies were driven by two factors: (1) school district referendums and (2) changes by the Governor and Legislature authorizing a higher levy limit for districts.

“These property tax increases are too high and absolutely avoidable.  Poor budgeting decisions by some state and local elected officials are once again harming the financial security of senior citizens, first-time home buyers, middle class families and renters,” Nass said.

     Finally, Nass emphasized that the school district levy increases come at a time when numerous academic measures of student performance continue to show many Wisconsin schools failing to exceed even minimal standards, particularly in the areas of math and reading.