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Posted at 11 a.m. on February 21, 2019
The Brillion News
MADISON – Cities and villages in Wisconsin rely more heavily on property taxes than any other state in the Midwest, and to a greater degree than most states nationally, according to a new report by the nonpartisan, independent Wisconsin Policy Forum.
In 2015, Wisconsin municipalities received 42.2 percent of their revenues from the property tax, but only 1.6 percent from sales and income taxes combined, WPF noted. Nationally, on average, municipalities got 23.3 percent of their revenues from the property tax with an additional 21.3 percent from sales and income taxes.
The increased dependence on the property tax is the result, in part, of state aid failing to keep pace with inflation, according to the report. From 1975 to 1997, state aid provided a larger share of municipal revenues here than property taxes. Since then, the situation has reversed, with property taxes in 2015 accounting for more than twice as much of local revenue as state aids.
A complete report on the results of this study – and the implications inherent in them – will be featured in the February 28 print edition of THE BRILLION NEWS.