By M.D. Kittle and Ola Lisowski MacIver News Service | June 2, 2017
Statewide property taxes would go down - $10 - but lower-spending districts would be allowed to raise property taxes by $92 million
June 5, 2017: This story has been updated with reactions from Gov. Walker and legislators.
[Madison, Wis...] Assembly Republicans are pushing a K-12 funding plan that cuts Gov. Scott Walker's state education spending proposal by more than $100 million, raising property taxes slightly compared to the governor's budget and cutting spending to private school choice to get there, according to legislative documents obtained by MacIver News Service.
At a press conference in Fitchburg, Walker said Monday he was concerned that the proposal could raise property taxes.
"Bottom line is, I don't want to see property taxes go up."
Walker's education spending plan proposes a $648 million increase over the next biennium, which delighted the public education establishment.
The GOP Assembly plan still significantly increases K-12 spending, just not as much as Walker's generous proposal. Some fiscal hawks in the Legislature have voiced concerns about the governor's generosity to a public education system marked by widespread failure in Milwaukee and other areas of the state. More so, the Assembly proposal frees up $100 million that could - and most likely will - find its way into other priorities, particularly the state's troubled Department of Transportation.
Showing 2 reactions
Sign in with