Wisconsin Right Now

With a total of 137 local school referendum questions spread across ballots in Wisconsin, recent data shows voters’ support for increasing property taxes to fund public education is waning. Marquette Law School polled 834 registered Wisconsin voters from Oct. 16-24, asking their opinions on presidential candidates, the direction of the state, and public school referendums, among other things. The poll found that voters’ desire to prioritize public school spending over lower property taxes peaked in late 2018, when 57% of Wisconsin registered voters polled said increasing school spending was more important and only 37% said reducing property taxes was more important. But now, voter support for increasing school district funding has fallen to its lowest level since Marquette began tracking the sentiment in 2013, with only 44% in the most recent survey saying school spending is more important, versus 55% who chose lower property taxes. The change occurs even as voters’ reported s...

Another local prosecutor declined to bring charges against a Republican state lawmaker in a campaign funding raising case. Waukesha County’s District Attorney Sue Opper said she would not file charges against state Rep. Janel Brandtjen. But Opper said she is not clearing Brandtjen in the case. “I am simply concluding that I cannot prove charges against her. While the intercepted communications, such as audio recordings may be compelling in the court of public opinion, they are not in a court of law,” Opper said. Wisconsin’s Ethics Commission suggested charges against Brandtjen and a handful of others in a case that investigators say saw them move money around to allegedly skirt Wisconsin’s limits on campaign donations. Opper said the Ethics Commission investigation was based on “reasonable suspicion and then probable cause.” But she added that those “burdens are substantially lower than proof beyond a reasonable doubt which is necessary for a criminal conviction.” Opper sai...

Property taxes are the lifeblood of local governments and municipalities across the United States, accounting for over 70% of all local tax revenue. Property taxes - such as taxes levied on homeowners and landowners - go to fund schools, parks, roads, and other public works and services. While states typically impose a minimum property tax, property taxes are mostly determined at the local level - and are often a percentage of a property or home's overall value. Depending on where you choose to buy a home, property taxes can range from negligible amounts to nearly matching a mortgage payment. Across Wisconsin, the effective annual property tax rate stands at 1.53%, the eighth highest among states. For context, homeowners in the U.S. pay an average of 1.03% of their housing value in property taxes a year. The effective property tax rate is calculated by taking the total amount of taxes paid on owner-occupied homes in a given area as a share of the total value of those homes. W...