Unaffordability spikes in Wisconsin

OPINION:

Wisconsin has become a nightmare for property taxpayers. Tonette and I raised our sons in Wauwatosa. Although we moved out to the town of Delafield, we still have many close friends in the community. According to a report from the Wisconsin Policy Forum, the property tax levy for schools in Wauwatosa went up a whopping 34.3%. Several of our friends have property tax bills that are more than $1,000 above what they paid last year.

Statewide, property taxes for schools are going up 7.8%. This is the largest increase in more than three decades. In contrast, inflation went up 2.7% in Wisconsin. The number used by the state government is the consumer price index for all urban consumers (CPI-U). This means that the ability to pay for things such as higher taxes is not keeping pace with the increases in the tax levies across the state.

It is one more barrier to homeownership for young people, a major challenge for parents trying to raise a family and a massive burden for seniors living on fixed incomes. Politicians should not be spending more than the ability of their constituents to pay taxes. Everywhere else in life, we have to balance quality and cost. Sadly, that is often not the case in government — particularly when liberals are in charge.

Overall, property tax levies for schools will rise by nearly half a billion dollars to $6.58 billion, according to the Wisconsin Department of Revenue. As the Wisconsin Policy Forum notes, this would be the largest percentage increase in gross school property tax levies since 1992. All of that is on top of the nearly 6% increase statewide in school tax levies last year.

A report by the forum states that the budget passed and enacted last summer kept the automatic increase in review that was set by Gov. Tony Evers’ partial veto. They also capped state school aids.

When I was governor of Wisconsin, we increased aid to schools while putting a freeze on tax levies for schools and local governments. Property and income taxes for a typical taxpayer were lower at the end of my tenure than they were when I was elected. Politifact did an extensive review of my claim and found that, according to the nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau, the property tax on a median-valued home was $88 less in the years after I took office than it was the month before I was elected. Income taxes were down too.

The lesson could not be clearer: Elect a liberal for governor, and property taxes go up. Elect a conservative like me, and property taxes go down.

Think about that as you write the check or pay your property tax bill online. For many, that amount reflects the increase above and beyond what your financial institution set aside in escrow for the year.

It pains me to think of my friends in our old neighborhood, but taxpayers in Wauwatosa are not alone. The property tax levy for schools in the city of Madison went up by $607 million, and in the city of Beloit, the school levy nearly tripled this year. These are unsustainable increases for hardworking taxpayers.

Voters in Wisconsin will elect a new governor this year. If he or she follows our lead and has taxpayer-friendly majorities in both chambers of the state Legislature, relief could be on the way in a year. On the other hand, each of the Democratic candidates running for the top office appears to be even more radical than the current governor. Katy bar the door if he or she has new radical majorities that want to raise taxes.

In Wisconsin, legislative Democrats recently introduced measures to all local governments to raise income taxes, claiming it will help lower property taxes. One need only look at Milwaukee County to see that it won’t. After County Executive David Crowley pushed for a sales tax increase, the county had a deficit the following year and had to raise the property tax levy.

Former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes and the others running want to repeal the reforms we enacted when I was governor. According to the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty, a typical taxpayer in Wauwatosa would see an increase of more than $1,100 just from the repeal of Wisconsin Act 10. In Beloit, the institute predicts the repeal would increase the typical taxpayer’s bill by $2,400.

The cruelest irony is that repealing Act 10 under the current system will open the door to massive property tax increases. The money will likely not go into the classroom. Instead, eliminating our reforms will put more money into the hands of the union bosses while doing little to help students. Less quality and higher costs; it’s what liberals do best.

Let’s hope enough people who are upset about their massive property tax bills will remember who is responsible for this mess in November.

• Scott Walker is a columnist for The Washington Times. He was the 45th governor of Wisconsin and launched a bid for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination. He lives in Milwaukee and is the proud owner of a 2003 Harley-Davidson Road King. He can be reached at swalker@washingtontimes.com.