MADISON, Wis. — Some Madison and Fitchburg homeowners experienced sticker shock when they opened their December property tax bills, following the Madison Metropolitan School District referendum. That shock rippled across Wisconsin as combined tax levies for all school districts topped $6 billion on December bills, according to a new analysis by the Wisconsin Policy Forum.
The nonpartisan research group reviewed data from all 421 school districts statewide and found Madison’s property tax hike alone accounted for 17 percent of the state’s total increase — the largest jump in three decades.
“It’s the single biggest increase statewide in terms of dollar value, and that’s in part because we just have a very big property tax base for our K-12 schools,” said Tyler Burns, senior research associate with the Wisconsin Policy Forum…