Interim Superintendent Eduardo Galvan says MPS finances will improve
MPS Interim Superintendent Eduardo Galvan talks about the district’s financial crisis and steps being taken to address it.
Provided by WisconsinEye
This story was updated because an earlier version included inaccuracies.
Milwaukee property taxes for 2024 are due in just two weeks, and some owners may still be wondering why their bills went up.
A combination of factors make up your property tax bill, one of which is property tax levies for K-12 schools.
These levies rose throughout the state last year — in part spurred by a record number of school referenda put before voters, according to a recent report from the Wisconsin Policy Forum.
The Policy Forum said Wisconsin Department of Revenue data used in the Dec. 10 report represented “gross property tax levies,” meaning it doesn’t “account for state credits that reduce net tax bills for Wisconsin residents.”
“The increase of 5.7% over last December’s gross property tax bills is the highest since 2009, but not far above last year’s 5.4% increase,” the report said.
K-12 schools make up “just under half of all local property tax levies” in the state “in any given year,” according to the Policy Forum.
To read the Wisconsin Policy Forum’s full Dec. 10 report, click here.
How many school referenda were passed in 2024?
School districts use referenda to ask voters to raise property taxes to provide more funding, exceeding caps set by the state.
Wisconsin voters approved a record number of school referenda in 2024 with 169 approvals, according to a November report from the Policy Forum. The previous record was set in 2018, when voters approved 140 measures.
In total, 241 measures were put on ballots in 2024, according to the Policy Forum.
Moreover, the Dec. 10 report said voters in “nearly two-thirds of public school districts” have approved at least one referendum since 2021.
Ari Brown, senior research associate at the Policy Forum, said he does not expect to see a similar amount of referenda in 2025.
“Districts tend to put [referenda] on ballots when they know more voters are going to be going to the polls,” he said.
How many referenda are on the ballot in 2025?
So far five referenda are slated to be on ballots throughout Wisconsin in February’s spring primary, and 48 are slated for the April general election as of Jan. 16, according to the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction.
To see upcoming referenda, you can view Wisconsin’s Department of Public Instruction list here.
How did the MPS tax levy in Milwaukee increase in 2024?
For Milwaukee in particular, the Milwaukee Public Schools system increased its property tax levy to $414.8 million, up from $320.2 million in 2023.
City Comptroller Bill Christianson told the Journal Sentinel in December this 29.5% increase was the “largest driver” behind 2024’s property tax levy.
The increase was driven by a $252 million referendum narrowly approved by voters last April, as the district was facing a projected $200 million budget shortfall.
As a result of citywide tax levies and higher property assessments, some Milwaukee property owners ended up with higher property tax bills than years prior.
The estimated tax impact of the referendum is $2.16 per $1,000 of property value. A property owner with a $200,000 home in Milwaukee, for example, could have seen a $432 increase on their 2024 property tax bill as a result.
In response to the Journal Sentinel’s request for readers’ comments on the matter, many said they are concerned about MPS’ financial management and transparency.
How much did property taxes rise in Wisconsin in 2024?
In general, property tax bills in Wisconsin increased by about 4% in 2024, though the report notes “the precise amount will vary throughout the state.”
But, higher property tax bills throughout the state cannot be solely attributed to K-12 property tax levy increases.
“It’s really going to depend on on where you live and what your local governments are up to,” Brown said.
Rory Linnane, Alec Johnson and Cleo Krejci contributed to this report.
