Municipalities in Wisconsin rely more heavily on property taxes than most states, including every other state in the Midwest, according to a new Wisconsin Policy Forum report.
Wisconsin cities and villages in 2015 received 42.2 percent of their revenues from property tax, but only 1.6 percent from sales and income taxes combined. That puts the state seventh nationally among the most property-tax dependent states. Wisconsin also has the Midwest’s lowest combined state and local sales tax rate at 5.44 percent on average.
Nationally, the average municipality gets 23.3% of revenue from property taxes and 21.3% from sales and income taxes.
State funding also has contributed to the dependence on property taxes. With state aid to Wisconsin municipalities remaining stagnant and not keeping up with inflation, it has forced cities and villages to rely more on property taxes.
