Contact: John Jacobson, (608) 255-7473
Wisconsin Property Taxpayers, Inc. is urging lawmakers to exercise caution when considering automatic property tax increases to Wisconsin’s families and small businesses.
“Our group applauds the Blue Ribbon Commission on School Funding for their work on one of the most complicated policy objectives in our state- school funding,” said Mike Marsch, the organization’s president. “Schools are a source of pride for every local community in Wisconsin, and a strong education is undoubtedly the key to future success.
“But telling families, small businesses, and farmers that they are not contributing enough is not the way to go,” he added. “While historic dollar levels were invested in education in the last budget, we believe that the state’s schools would be better served by additional increases in state aid while allowing property tax caps to remain intact, freeing up more local revenues for infrastructure and other priorities.
“Some have argued that communities having a say in whether or not to raise their property taxes is a bad thing. But do the residents of every Wisconsin community not know their communities’ needs best? We believe they do, and urge caution when considering any type of automatic tax increase that remove residents’ voices from the process.
WPT, Inc. is an advocacy organization consisting of 18,000 small businesses, farms, and homeowners in all 72 Wisconsin counties.
