Your letters: Candidate for 85th Assembly District warns of problems created by eliminating property tax

Dear editor,

In a recent article in The Record-Review, Rep. Pat Snyder laid out his legislative priorities. He indicated that he is “willing to discuss getting rid of the personal property tax and either getting rid of the income tax or turning it into a flat tax.”

This is a bold statement to make, but it is absolutely a campaign gimmick.

Getting rid of personal property tax and income tax sounds great, but how then does a state plan on funding – well, anything? What is going to replace that revenue that currently funds our roads, schools, police, fire, libraries and governments? What he doesn’t tell you is that getting rid of the personal property tax and income tax will not actually mean you are paying less taxes – they’ll just be shifted. It is impossible to simply eliminate the property and income tax without a large increase in the sales tax, and/or giving broad authority for municipalities to levy their own sales, income and property tax.

If you look through all the candidate questionnaires and interviews from 2018 and 2020 (and believe me, I did!) his answers to this were, “We need to find a solution.” He’s been there for almost six years now. What has he done? Nothing.  What discussions have there been in the legislature, or with the governor, about the broken system we have in Wisconsin for funding local government? None.  What proposals has he made to both ensure that our local governments, roads, police and fire departments have the resources they need while also not bankrupting local municipalities? Not a single one. 

Wisconsin relies on property taxes to fund its municipal governments more than most states. No other Midwestern state relies so heavily on property taxes and so little on other taxes to pay for municipal services. Property taxes fund our schools, libraries, city employees, roads, bridges, police and fire, and all other municipal services. Wisconsin has the sixth highest property tax rate in the U.S. A home assessed for $250,000 in South Carolina will pay around $1,200 in property taxes.  Wisconsin will cost around 3.5X that much at $4,425.   

In 2006 and 2011, in order to slow the rate of property tax growth, Wisconsin limited the levy increase exclusively to any increases in property values due to new construction – the most restrictive limits of the 10 states that do this. This did what it was intended – it slowed the increase of property taxes, but paired with the state aid failing to keep up with inflation, it led to a flip-flop of where the aid came from – now the majority of funding comes from property taxes, with less than 20 percent coming from state aid.

For decades, municipal and county governments have been begging for a change.  Hundreds of cities and villages around Wisconsin have experienced less than 1 percent of net new construction. Think of smaller cities like Schofield – surrounded by municipalities and water and unable to expand. One year the only net new construction was a re-build of a home damaged by a fire! Cities, villages, and counties are drowning in debt – to use a metaphor I detest – forced to “kick the can down the road” and borrow to pay for basic services like road repair and ambulance service. I highly recommend anyone who fancies themselves a data nerd to read this report from 2019.

Do I agree that our property taxes are high in Wisconsin? Absolutely. Do I agree that our municipalities are struggling to keep up with all the costs associated with running a government? Yes. Do I want the people of Wisconsin to have to pay more in taxes? Of course not. What I will not do, however, is make a broad statement that I will “eliminate property and income tax” without also telling you the other side – that means that other taxes (sales, etc.) will then increase in less than fair ways to make up the cost. I’m pointing this out because I am something you won’t see every day in a politician. Honest.

Kristin Conway is a member of the Schofield City Council and is a candidate for Wisconsin’s 85th Assembly District. 

Editor’s note: Wausau Pilot & Review gladly publishes commentary from readers, residents and candidates for local offices. The views of readers and columnists are independent of this newspaper and do not necessarily reflect the views of Wausau Pilot & Review. To submit, email [email protected] or mail to 500 N. Third St., Suite 208-8, Wausau, Wis. 54403.