Conservatively Speaking
State Senator Mary Lazich (R-New Berlin) represents parts of four counties: Milwaukee, Waukesha, Racine, and Walworth. Her Senate District 28 includes New Berlin, Franklin, Greendale, Hales Corners, Muskego, Waterford, Big Bend and parts of Greenfield, East Troy, and Mukwonago. Senator Lazich has been in the Legislature for more than a decade. She considers herself a tireless crusader for lower taxes, reduced spending and smaller government.
State Budget Watch: Governor Doyle wants to increase your property taxes
By Mary Lazich
Friday, May 4 2007, 02:14 PM
Your property taxes are virtually guaranteed to increase under Governor Doyle’s proposed state budget. The Governor wants to allow local units of government to increase their 2008 property tax levies by four percent, or the percentage increase in new local construction, whichever is larger. The four percent figure is double the current cap on local government levies. If this provision is part of the state budget that is eventfully adopted, your property taxes will go up.
The Legislature’s Joint Finance Committee continues its review of the Governor’s budget proposal. On Thursday, Republicans tried to kill the Governor’s plan to allow local governments to increase their property tax levies. All eight Republican members voted to kill the measure, but all eight Democrats on the committee voted in favor, so the provision remains in the budget.
The Legislative Fiscal Bureau estimates the doubling of the property tax levy cap along with other changes the Governor wants to make will mean a property tax increase on a median valued home of 3.4 percent. So much for the promise Governor Doyle made to freeze property taxes.
The Committee also failed to kill the Governor’s plan to double the real estate fee, a fee paid by sellers of homes and other property. The fee would go from $3 to $6 per $1,000 of property sale price. There’s no need to double the fee, and the timing couldn’t be worse as the price for home sales has been dropping. State and local governments share the fee that is charged to home sellers.
Doubling the real estate fee is yet another example of what a tax and spend happy state Wisconsin has become. Efforts to kill the real estate fee increase along with the increase of the cap on property tax levies must continue.
