Wisconsin Policy Forum Finds Gross K-12 School Property Taxes Rose 7.8% in December

Thursday, December 18th, 2025 -- 9:00 AM

(Corrinne Hess, Wisconsin Public Radio) A report released Tuesday from the Wisconsin Policy Forum found gross K-12 school property taxes rose an average of 7.8 percent in December, the largest increase in three decades.

According to Corrinne Hess with Wisconsin Public Radio, that’s because of local referenda and increases to per-pupil revenue limits in the last two years, according to the report.

County property taxes are set to rise 3.1 percent, an increase more in line with recent years. As a result, tax levies for all local governments are expected to see their largest increase since at least 2018.

The Policy Forum pointed to three factors driving up schools’ property tax levies: flat state support, an increase in per-pupil aid limits and widespread voter approval of school referendums.

School districts are funded by a mix of taxpayer dollars, state aid and federal aid. “The responsibility for paying for local government services, especially schools, is shifting more heavily to property taxpayers this year,” the report says.

The Republican-led Legislature and Gov. Tony Evers maintained the state’s increase in the state’s per pupil revenue limit on districts at $325 per year, a limit set in the 2023-25 budget through the governor’s partial veto.

This limit sets how much school revenues can increase from the combination of general school aids and property taxes. This decision alone would likely have increased K-12 property tax levies, according to the report.

“A second budget decision to freeze state general school aids also contributed to the record property tax increase,” the report says. “School districts can choose to increase their levy by less than the allowed limit. Rising pressure on both revenues and expenditures, however, appears to have prompted many districts to levy at or near the maximum amount.”

These pressures include rising teacher salaries and inflation, revenue limit increases in recent years that lagged the rate of inflation, and decreased funding associated with declining student enrollment and the expiration of federal pandemic relief funds, the report found.

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