WISCONSIN: Homeowners Haunted by 400-Year Tax Hike Abandoned by Dems in Gov. Race
Outgoing Democrat Gov. Tony Evers guaranteed property tax increases annually for centuries to come even as school achievements plummet. Only Republican Tom Tiffany stands against the absurd tax hike.
Wisconsin homeowners won't see property tax relief in their lifetime—nor will their grandchildren—if Democrats win the November governor's race.
Homeowners still suffer under outgoing Gov. Tony Evers' (D) absurd 2023 decision allowing school districts to increase funding up to $325 per student every year for the next 400 years. None of the Democrats running for governor will save property owners from this destructive plan.
They've all said so.
One of the candidates, Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez, told a Milwaukee news station in February that she thinks the unprecedented tax hike is "appropriate."
"That was the tool that he had available to him with a hostile legislature. So, yes, I do think that that was appropriate," Rodriguez said. "Republican leadership has defunded our public schools for over a decade." Notice how she blames Republicans rather than union-led school districts that demand more money each year.
More State Control
Rodriguez wants to fully change the funding formula for public schools and have the money flow from the state to school districts. So, it would still be extracted from the taxpayer, just through a different path. With state funding comes more state control. Rodriguez would distribute money based on school characteristics, which sounds like a way to short-change successful schools.
"I would be looking at all options to make sure that we are funding schools appropriately." Rodriguez said. "Right now, we fund our schools very categorically, we don't necessarily look at the whole child. Looking at funding formulas from other states who've been able to do this successfully, that look holistically at the school district, whether it's rural, suburban, urban, what their poverty rates are. How many English language learners do they have in their school district? What does that look like for special education? looking at that holistically, and then providing that funding appropriately is something that I think the state has an obligation to do—to look at that again."
In her campaign materials, Rodriguez says communities are struggling "just to keep schools open." She doesn't want to simply shift the funding source; she wants more money by opening an additional revenue stream.
Rodriguez does not specifically say local taxes would end with her plan, nor did she say the state would take on 100 percent of the funding. She believes Wisconsin schools, with declining enrollment, declining test scores, and an ever-increasing budget, need more money.
The changes she envisions are radical and wouldn't be implemented without resistance if they are implemented at all. Until then, Rodriguez considers the 400-year tax "appropriate."
Taxing Your Great-Great-Great- Great-Great-Great- Great-Great-Great- Great-Great-Great-Great-Grandchildren
Evers used his veto pen to make a few minor written changes in school funding legislation in 2023, creating the 400-year tax increase. The veto was challenged in court, but the Wisconsin Supreme Court sided with Evers, allowing his veto to affect people 15 generations into the future.
Let's take a look at how quickly property taxes that fund schools will become more painful under Evers' tax hike.
The Kenosha School District, for example, has enrollment of 18,719 students. Multiply that by the top limit the district can increase—$325 per student—and you get the total amount the district can increase taxes: just over $6 million more each year until 2423.
That is just the increase. It goes on top of Kenosha's current $266 million budget.
In this example, in only 10 years at the top increase, assuming enrollment will be in the same ballpark, the district will be raking in $60 million more than it is now, with no incentive to curb spending or improve test scores.
It's time to stop pointing fingers and start fixing problems.
— Tom Tiffany (@TomTiffanyWI) June 23, 2026
7 in 10 fourth graders can't read proficiently. Less than half of hospitals post prices. The median first-time homebuyer is now 40.
I'll raise standards, require transparency, and end the 400-year property tax hike. pic.twitter.com/R9Ztzxl5hU
Republicans tried to eliminate the tax with a 2025 measure, Senate Bill 391, and predictably, Evers vetoed it in a condescending April letter saying, "My 400-year veto is here to stay, lawmakers. Just fund our public schools and get over it."
Different Candidates All Using Same Old Playbook
Socialist Francesca Hong, who is running on the Democrat ticket for governor, voted against SB389. She is the only candidate who already had a chance to stop the tax, but she refused to help property owners.
Mandela Barnes, another Democrat gubernatorial candidate, also defended the 400-year tax using nearly identical language with talk of "fully funding" public education, painting Republicans as somehow anti-education, and describing Wisconsin's beautiful schools in such dire financial need that they are within a whisper of closing.
"If our schools aren't being funded—if the legislature has abdicated their responsibility—I see Governor Evers has taken it upon himself to ensure that schools will keep their doors open."
Barnes claims school districts can barely fund basic necessities.
"We're not talking about building some cool new stadium, we're talking about just to keep the doors open," Barnes said. "Communities are in sheer terror of the fact that if the school closes the door, then what happens to that entire community? What happens to that municipality? What happens to their opportunities? And this is all because the majority party in the Legislature has failed time and time again to fully fund public education."
Democrats agree, the Evers tax stays, increasing property taxes annually,
In contrast, Republican candidate Tom Tiffany has said he would end the 400-year tax hike.
Without a change in leadership, long after Evers is out of office, and his ashes are lovingly scattered on the lawn of the Wisconsin Education Association Council, anyone who owns property in Wisconsin will continue to suffer under the 400-year plan. The students Evers claims to care for now, will be senior citizens who were never able to achieve the American Dream of home ownership in Wisconsin.
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