Waukesha County sales tax proposal dead, Farrow says
Waukesha County Courthouse
WAUKESHA, Wis. - An ordinance that would have instituted a Waukesha County sales tax to address potential budget shortfalls is now officially dead, County Executive Paul Farrow announced on Tuesday. The proposal had been tabled in October.
Taxes in Waukesha County
What they're saying:
Farrow previously introduced an ordinance to authorize a 0.5% sales tax. That tax would have been added to the existing 5% state sales tax and take effect on July 1, 2025.
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The county executive's office said Waukesha County is the lowest spending county per capita in Wisconsin. Roughly 44% of the county's property tax revenue, or about $51 million of the 2025 budget, goes toward mandated programs that the state does not fund.
"The county is a portion of the state government. We're the implementers of what they do. One of the challenges we have is $51 million of our property tax levy goes to fund state-mandated programs, so we're taking a pause," Farrow said Wednesday. "We said, look, we're not going to look at the sales tax at all. What we're going to do is try to work with the state government, especially during this budget cycle, to figure out how they can cover their costs that we implement."
The county said it would prefer to use $51 million to fund the sheriff’s department, 911 dispatch, or other vital county services.
The Waukesha County Business Alliance, a countywide chamber of commerce with more than 1,200 members, urged the county in October to "slow down and evaluate" the proposed sales tax.
The county executive previously said the sales tax would have provided municipal aid and a "significant" property tax cut.
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The backstory:
Weeks after the ordinance was put on hold, Farrow signed off on the 2025 Waukesha County budget, which cut funding by $2.9 million compared to the previous year's budget.
The budget cut the county tax rate for the 11th consecutive year, the county said – a 3% decrease that brings the county to its lowest tax rate in more than three decades.
Taxes in Wisconsin
Dig deeper:
FOX6 News first reported on the possibility of a Waukesha County sales tax in August to address potential budget cuts. At the time, the county was one of only four in Wisconsin that did not currently have a sales tax.
Waukesha and Winnebago counties don’t have a county sales tax. Manitowoc County added a sales tax in January. The Racine County board approved a sales tax last year that will take effect in April.
The Source: Information in this report is from the Waukesha County Executive's Office, FOX6 News interviews and prior FOX6 News coverage.