K-12 property taxes up again in Wisconsin. Reversing 2010s WisGOP policies can stop this.

As property tax bills go out, don't be surprised if you're paying more than you did last year, and possibly quite a bit more. The Wisconsin Policy Forum tells us that there will be a sizable increase in property taxes for 2024-25, especially for K-12 schools.

The Policy Forum notes that this year is the second year in a row that K-12 property taxes are up more than 5% in our state.

There are several drivers of this increase. First, in the 2023-25 state budget, lawmakers agreed to increase the state’s per pupil revenue limit by $325 in both the 2023-24 and 2024-25 school years after freezing them for the previous two years amid high inflation. The limit governs how much revenue schools can raise from state general school aids and property taxes combined – the two largest sources of K-12 revenue. In general, the larger the revenue limit increase, the larger the property tax increase unless state lawmakers also significantly raise general school aids. General school aids rose by $224.9 million from 2023-24 to 2024-25, which appears to have not been enough to stave off levy increases.

The second driver of the large K-12 property tax increase is referenda. As noted earlier, nearly 400 referenda have passed in just the last four years, including 169 in 2024 alone. Our November brief tied these record numbers to the impacts of inflation and previously lagging revenue limit increases, among other factors. An approved referendum means voters agree to have their own property taxes raised either to fund school district operational priorities or to finance the debt needed for capital projects. The data show the impact: in the 275 districts that have passed at least one referendum since the beginning of 2021, K-12 property taxes will rise by 7.6% in 2024. In the remaining districts, levies will also rise, but by a much smaller 1.0%.

But the $325-a-pupil increase came after a 2021-23 budget that didn't have any increase at all in the revenue limits, as pandemic-era aids from DC were thought to make up the difference. However, the 2021-23 budget was in a 2-year time period where the US Consumer Price Index rose by more than 12%, and the $325 a pupil in this budget doesn't come close to making up that deficit in resources. With COVID aids almost entirely used up, referenda became the choice many community schools turned to in order to maintain what they had.

The Policy Forum also mentions 2 particular state law changes from the GOP's control of the State Legislature that have an effect on property taxes and the funding available.

Another potential factor adding to K-12 levies is the growth in enrollment and payments for the state’s private choice programs. Under the state’s complicated school funding system, this growth can contribute to local property tax increases.

Last, the state budget increased the school levy tax credit by $80 million this year. This funding cannot be spent by school districts; it instead goes toward lowering net tax bills for property owners. The funding could have been used instead to further raise general school aids, which would have provided more assistance to districts with low property values and less help to districts with high values.

Both of these items could be fixed in the next budget. Let's not forget that the state has increased payments to voucher schools outside of Milwaukee by massive amounts, and that the way those voucher payments are funded is by reducing the state aids of the public school district where the lives in - even if the child never attended a day of public school. A Walker/WisGOP-era law allows the public school district to increase property taxes to make up for the lost state aid from voucher payments, which can increase K-12 property taxes.

Then, we saw a large increase in voucher school payments in the 2023-25 budget as part of a deal to allow that $325 per pupil increase in public school revenues. As a result, over $300 million in state aids are projected to be taken from K-12 public schools in this school year, with almost all of that being replaced by property taxes.

Maybe we should use some of our surplus to pay the full cost of having these 2 K-12 school systems (vouchers and public schools), and stop having property taxes make up the difference? Seems like a logical discussion to have, since we won't be able to get rid of the voucher scam with GOPs still in control of the Legislature for this session (they are NOT cutting off their funders in the voucher lobby).

On the other topic, that $80 million increase in the School Levy Credit Increase came after another $295 million increase the year before, and is significantly larger than it was when Scott Walker and the GOP came to power after the 2010 elections.

As I have mentioned previously, we could easily switch out the School Levy Credit for larger amounts of General State Aid, and that would allow for more resources to go in the classroom while not having to increase property taxes, or we could even cut those property taxes by having schools use state resources instead.

If I were Governor Evers and state Dems, I would make this budget debate center on the fact that we need to be paying for our schools with state aids that go into the classrooms, and NOT shove it off onto property taxes and school referenda. I would force the GOP to be the ones who refuse to fund schools, and who cause Wisconsin homeowners to see their property taxes go up just to avoid seeing their community schools falling behind even further.