Weekly Fiscal Facts are provided to Wisconsin Newspaper Association members by the Wisconsin Policy Forum, the state’s leading resource for nonpartisan state and local government research and civic education. The Wisconsin Policy Forum logo can be downloaded here.
Gross K-12 school property taxes in Wisconsin are rising 7.8% on December bills, the largest increase in more than three decades. As a result of these and tax levies imposed by other units of local government, total tax levies are expected to see their biggest jump since at least 2018.
Property tax levies for all Wisconsin K-12 school districts combined are expected to rise by about $476.1 million to $6.58 billion on tax bills being mailed out this December, according to preliminary data from the Wisconsin Department of Revenue (DOR). This would be the largest percentage increase since 1992 to these gross tax levies, which account for nearly half of all property taxes statewide.
County property taxes are set to rise 3.1%, an increase more in line with recent years. DOR data are not yet available for municipal or tax increment districts (TID), which make up the remainder of local property tax levies. The DOR data represent gross property tax levies, meaning they do not account for state credits that reduce net tax bills for Wisconsin residents.
Three factors are the foremost drivers of this year’s increase in K-12 property taxes. First, lawmakers and Gov. Tony Evers maintained the increase in the state’s per pupil revenue limit on districts at $325 per year, a limit set in the 2023-25 budget through the governor’s partial veto. This limit governs how much school revenues can rise from the combination of general school aids and property taxes, which are districts’ two primary sources of revenue.
Typically, a portion of the annual per pupil revenue limit increase is covered by rising state general school aids. But this time, state leaders instead kept the funding for these payments flat, leaving property taxes as the sole means by which school districts collectively could access the allowed $325 per student increase. Districts did receive some additional funding through the current state budget, most notably via more than $500 million in increased aid to cover costs related to special education.
The third factor is voters’ passage of referenda authorizing school districts to exceed state revenue limits, largely by increasing property taxes. The fall of 2024 saw the most referenda passed in state history. Then, voters in the spring of 2025 passed the most of an off year since 2015. The added impacts of the large number of referenda helped drive K-12 property taxes even higher than projected.
Gross statewide property tax levies are on pace to grow by roughly 5%, according to the DOR data and state projections. That would be the highest since at least December 2007 tax bills. Given the lack of increases to state tax credits to offset the impact of these tax levy raises, taxpayers will likely see the full impact on their incoming bills.
Given the 2025-27 budget provisions and ongoing school referenda, it’s likely that next year will see tax increases of similar magnitude. Absent some special action by the state Legislature and governor early next year, property taxpayers will likely see more of the same in December 2026.
This information is provided to Wisconsin Newspaper Association members as a service of the Wisconsin Policy Forum, the state’s leading resource for nonpartisan state and local government research and civic education. Learn more at wispolicyforum.org.
