Local Property Tax Levies Approved by State Governments in 2023 Saw Largest Increase Since 2007

Tuesday, September 10th, 2024 -- 11:01 AM

(Joe Schulz, Wisconsin Public Radio) Total property tax levies approved by local governments across Wisconsin last year saw their largest increase since 2007, according to the Wisconsin Policy Forum.

According to Joe Schulz with Wisconsin Public Radio, property tax levies increased by 4.6 percent statewide, almost double the previous year’s increase and exceeded the 4.1 percent inflation rate in 2023, according to the Policy Forum’s newest annual analysis of property taxes.

That comes after two years where the Policy Forum says inflation substantially outpaced statewide levy increases. Those property taxes were on residents’ December 2023 tax bills and are used to fund local governments this year.

“The biggest contributors to your property tax bill are first going to be your school district, and then typically, in most cases, your municipality,” said Mark Sommerhauser, communications director for the Wisconsin Policy Forum. “It does depend somewhat if you live in a city or a village versus a town.”

Sommerhauser added school districts are dealing with a lot of challenges when it comes to budgeting, especially because salaries for teachers and staff members need to be competitive to keep people in the field.

“Many school districts have found themselves in a very competitive labor environment for teaching workers and for staffers,” he said. “Inflation has been a big driver of that, especially in the prior two years.”

The Wisconsin Policy Forum released its updated 2024 Property Values and Taxes Data Tool on Thursday, which includes information on all the state’s counties, municipalities and school districts.

While gross tax levies have risen statewide, equalized property values increased by 7.7 percent in 2024, slowing down from the previous two years but still exceeding the annual growth rate in property tax levies, the Policy Forum’s data shows.

That growth in property value has caused a decline in the statewide property tax rate for the 10th consecutive year, the Policy Forum said. The gross property tax rate in Wisconsin fell from $16.78 per $1,000 of property value in 2022 to $15.53 in 2023. That’s the lowest gross property tax rate in Wisconsin since at least 1984.

“When property values go up by a large amount, as they have for the last three years, the actual tax rate goes down,” Sommerhauser said. “(That’s) because the amount that the school districts and the other local governments are collecting, the property tax levy is spread across a larger property tax base.”

He also said the changes in property tax levies vary from county to county, or municipality to municipality.

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