Gov. Walker: Typical homeowner will pay $116 less in property taxes this year

WAUKESHA -- Gov. Scott Walker visited Waukesha on Tuesday, December 13th to highlight the savings he said taxpayers have seen in their property taxes since taking office.

Estimated property tax bills for the typical homeowner will be $116 lower this year (2016) than they were in 2010, according to the governor. Walker said that results in a six-year cumulative estimated savings of over $1,700 compared to the previous four-year trend.

"Property taxes today in December 2016 are $116 less than they were in December in 2010," Walker said.



The Republican governor said without his property tax relief reform, property taxes were on pace to be more than $400 higher than they currently are cumulatively. He said that translates to $1,700 in savings over the past six years.

Governor Scott Walker

"We did two things. We put more money into school aids -- some of which went to schools directly, but a major portion of which we tied into property tax caps so that levies were capped off at the school board and the municipal and county level," Walker said.

Democrats, like Rep. Gordon Hintz said the cuts have come at the expense of public education.

"Governor Walker is sort of telling one version of the story.  Where I represent in Oshkosh, property taxes skyrocketed over the last year because we, like 139 other school districts, had to vote to raise our own property taxes to keep the lights on in our schools," Hintz said.

Governor Walker said he will continue to focus on lowering property taxes in the next state budget.

Democrats said they, too support property tax relief, but said it should be weighed with other priorities.

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