School tax spike hits property bills

Many property owners have received the property bills sent out in December, and might be less than enthused about the increase in K-12 school increase appearing on their bill.

Wisconsin Policy Forum (WPF), a nonpartisan, independent statewide policy research organization, released a report last month highlighting the fact that across the state, gross K-12 school property taxes were expected to rise 7.8% on December bills — the largest increase in more than three decades.

According to WPF, the large increase in K-12 school levies is due in part to decisions in each of the last two state budgets, combined with widespread passage of school referenda in which voters authorized districts to increase their tax levies beyond state limits. Locally, voters recently passed referendums in both Northland Pines and Three Lakes school districts.

State decisions affecting bills

WPF says one of the foremost drivers of this year’s increase in K-12 property taxes was a provision of the state budget passed in July of 2025. Lawmakers and Gov. Tony Evers maintained the state’s increase in the state’s per pupil revenue limit on districts at $325 per year, which was set in the 2023-25 budget through Evers’ partial veto.

“This decision alone would likely have increased K-12 property tax levies to a degree,” the WPF report says. “However, a second budget decision to freeze state general school aids also contributed to the record property tax increase.”
According to data provided by WPF, nearly every two-year budget over the past two decades has included at least one annual increase in general school aids — a form of aid that is distributed to school districts based on factors including property values, spending and enrollment.

“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,” WPF said.

Although school districts could choose to increase their levy by less than the allowed limit, rising costs across the board such as teacher salaries and inflation has continued to put added pressure on districts to pay the bills.

Communities in both large suburban and rural districts have seen significant increases.

Wisconsin Policy Forum also noted that, given the lack of increases to state tax credits to offset the impact of these tax levy raises, taxpayers will feel the full impact on their bills this year.

But one benefit of being a homeowner in Wisconsin, according to the WPF report, is that given the income tax cuts included in the most recent state budget paired with rising incomes, it is likely the average tax burden will remain relatively low, although WPF acknowledges that effects for individuals will vary.

Vilas levy increase beats state rate

Preliminary data indicated county levies also were expected to rise at a rate of 3.1% for 2025, with some counties in the state increasing by significantly more.

County property taxes typically grow between 1% and 3% annually, WPF said, putting this increase on the high end of the typical range in recent years.

According to data from the Department of Revenue, Vilas County is seeing only a +1.8% change in property tax levy from 2024 to 2025, or $0.3 million, with Oneida seeing a 3.7% jump to $0.7 million.

Bayfield County (+18.6%) is seeing the largest percentage increase.

WPF credits continued inflation, the end of federal pandemic aid and smaller levy increases in 2024 as potential explanations for the larger bump in county property taxes.

Wisconsin Policy Forum is a nonpartisan, independent statewide policy research organization that aims to provide informed, nonpartisan analysis of critical policy issues affecting local governments, school districts, and the state of Wisconsin.