Wisconsin's Property Taxes Drop for First Time in 12 Years

Milwaukee, Wisc.
According to Wisconsin's Department of Revenue, property taxes on homes in the state of Wisconsin have decreased for the first time in more than a decade.

Governor Scott Walker's pledge to balance the budget without raising taxes was a key plank of his 2010 campaign, and his fulfillment of that pledge will be a major campaign theme leading up to the June 5 recall election. “Our reforms have reversed a decade of property tax increases from previous administrations,” Walker said in a statement on Monday. “For the first time in over ten years, the average property taxpayer will have more money in his or her pocket than the year before.” Walker's office noted that property taxes had risen by 43 percent since 1998, and "the average homeowner would have paid an additional $700 over the biennium" without the 2011 budget reforms.

The property tax decrease is largely attributable to a reduction in state spending on local school districts, according to Todd Berry of the non-partisan Wisconsin Taxpayers' Alliance.

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