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The Wisconsin Policy Forum recently reported that property tax bills mailed out to Wisconsin taxpayers this month will show the biggest tax increase from a previous year since 2009.

Assembly Speaker Robin Vos wasted no time in assigning blame. On X, Vos wrote: “When you receive your property tax bill this month, please remember it was Governor Evers who used his line item veto to create a 400 year guaranteed property tax increase.”

It’s true that Evers’ headline-grabbing partial veto of the last state budget extended the two-year tax increase the Legislature approved for school districts. The Legislature allowed schools to raise another $325 per pupil per year from local taxpayers for each year of the 2023-25 budget. By deleting some digits, Evers stretched that out until the year 2425. 

But Vos’ accusation is fundamentally misleading in a couple of ways. First, the Legislature approved the increase for the duration of the current budget cycle. The fact that Evers extended it for centuries into the future made a big splash, but it didn’t add a penny to anyone’s property taxes this year. 

Second, and more important to understand, as we begin another budget cycle and another slugfest over spending on schools, is that the Legislature’s stinginess when it comes to the state’s share of school funding is a major driver of property tax increases. 

As the Wisconsin Policy Forum points out in its report, one key reason for the recent spike in property taxes is the historic number of school district referenda passed by local communities. Local property taxpayers voted to raise their own taxes. And why is that? Because the Legislature refused to give school districts enough money in the state budget to cover their costs.

But, you might object, Vos and other Republicans made a big point of touting their last budget’s “historic” $1.2 billion increase in funding for schools. Unfortunately, that claim is as misleading as Vos’ effort to blame Evers for your property tax bill.

To understand why school districts are begging local taxpayers for money at the same time Republicans claim they gave schools a “historic increase,” take a look at how little of that $1.2 billion in “education spending” actually went to schools. 

For each budget cycle, the Legislative Fiscal Bureau produces a detailed summary of budget items by category. In the “Public Instruction” category, the Fiscal Bureau reports that “total school aid” in the 2023-25 budget came to $625 million. 

Where did the rest go? To find out, you have to look down the list of Fiscal Bureau categories to “shared revenue and tax relief.” There, under the heading “school levy tax credit” you will find the missing $590 million in so-called school funding, in the form of a rebate to property taxpayers. Schools never get to touch that money. It is an oddity of Wisconsin law that the school levy tax credit is labeled as school funding.

The school levy tax credit puts school districts in an awkward position every year. At the end of October, every district sets its levy. People believe, based on that number, that they know what their tax bill will be. But later, on Nov. 20, the Wisconsin Department of Revenue tells each municipality the amount of the school levy tax credit that will be applied to local property tax bills and the number is readjusted. The state calls this tax credit money for schools, but it’s actually just a straight-up discount for property tax payers. 

Now, had the Legislature actually put $590 million into school funding, schools would have been in a much better financial position, and we probably would not have seen a record-breaking number of districts asking property taxpayers to hike their own taxes to keep their local schools afloat. 

The backdrop to all this was a huge, historic cut to school funding in Wisconsin back in 2012, followed by a decade and a half in which schools never recovered. Wisconsin has not given schools enough funding to keep pace with inflation for the last 15 years, state schools superintendent Jill Underly pointed out when she released her $4 billion 2025-27 budget proposal.

Vos dismissed Underly’s budget proposal as completely unrealistic. But in truth, it would pretty much restore Wisconsin schools to the level of funding they enjoyed right before the brutal cuts of former Gov. Scott Walker’s administration.

One of Underly’s top budget priorities is asking the state to meet its neglected commitment to cover 90% of special education costs, instead of the current 32%, which forces schools to raid general funds and cut programs to cover this unavoidable, federally mandated expense.

Another sensible idea, endorsed by the Legislature’s bipartisan Blue Ribbon Commission on School Funding in 2017, is to end the deceptive practice of putting money into the school levy tax credit and pretending that it funds schools.

Instead of playing a shell game with school funding and pointing fingers as local taxpayers continue to shoulder more and more of the cost, Wisconsin should use a portion of the state’s massive budget surplus to adequately fund schools.

An empty high school classroom. (Dan Forer | Getty Images)

Department of Public Instruction Superintendent Jill Underly is proposing Wisconsin increase state public school funding by at least $3 billion, including by increasing the special education reimbursement for public schools. 

Underly outlined the proposal Monday, and it comes as Wisconsin schools have been increasingly turning to voters to help fund rising costs. Last week, Wisconsin voters passed over 78% of school referendum requests. 

“Wisconsin’s public schools have been asked to do more with less for too many years — and the upcoming biennial budget presents a critical opportunity to make meaningful change and support the future of our kids,” Underly said in a statement announcing the proposals on Monday. “My budget proposal reinvests in public education and upholds the responsibility of our state: To ensure our schools have the resources they need to ensure the success of our kids. By providing sustainable funding to our public schools and creating new, innovative ways to meet families’ needs, our educators can continue providing high-quality education to all kids.

The proposal includes raising the state’s reimbursement for special education costs to 75% in 2026 and to 90% in 2027 — providing about $2 billion to schools over the biennium. Private voucher schools in Wisconsin already receive a 90% reimbursement rate. 

The budget request  also includes indexing school revenue limits to inflation — restoring a principle that was last used in  2009-10 — and  increasing public schools’ revenue limits by $425 in fiscal year 2026 and by $437.75 in fiscal year 2027 — providing an additional $1 billion over the biennium. 

At the same time, Underly said her proposal would limit school districts’ property tax increases to an average of 1.5%.

DPI Communications Director Chris Bucher explained in an email to the Examiner that the agency is “proposing both increasing the revenue limit, and then funding that with state dollars.”

“Funding the revenue limit increase has the practical effect of preventing schools from increasing property taxes, due to the revenue limit increase, unless they go to referendum,” Bucher said. “It’s not just a hope and a wish. Schools are effectively prevented from increasing property taxes due to the revenue limit by more than about 1.5% average over the biennium.”

Other proposals include expanding per-pupil categorical aid program payments from $750 to $800 in 2026 and to $850 in 2027, as well as providing an additional 20% for students in poverty; providing $20 million for the out-of-school-time grant program; and reimbursing local education agencies for unaided costs of providing mandated special education services to children with disabilities in early childhood education. 

Over the last month, Underly has also announced other proposals, including investing nearly $60 million to help school districts resolve staffing challenges and retain teachers, $42 million proposal to support early literacy initiatives, $311 million for school nutrition and $304 million to support Wisconsin youth mental health.

Democratic lawmakers responded positively to the proposals, saying they will benefit students. 

“For the love of Wisconsin kids, teachers, and schools, let’s get it done,” Rep. Robyn Vining (D-Wauwatosa) said. 

Sen. Kelda Roys (D-Madison), who is a member of the Joint Finance Committee, encouraged her colleagues to support and help pass the proposal in a statement. 

“Public schools are struggling under harsh state levy limits, forcing districts to repeatedly go to referenda to recruit and retain great teachers and to give every student a good education,” Roys said. “This is a budget proposal that finally puts our kids and our schools first, while helping take the burden off of local taxpayers.”

Whether the proposals will actually become law is unclear. The Legislature will have a larger share of Democrats in the upcoming legislative session after the first elections under maps drawn to be more competitive for both parties. Democrats have said that the change will lead to more negotiations with Republican lawmakers over the shape of the budget. 

However, Republicans still hold a majority of seats in both chambers, with a 54-45 GOP majority in the Assembly and an 18-15 majority in the Senate.

Leaders of Senate and Assembly Republicans have said given the state’s budget surplus that tax cuts will be a top priority for them.

Update: This story was updated Tuesday with additional comment from DPI.