Property tax rates on the rise: trend or anomaly?
July, 2008

This year's increase in the gross tax rate marked the first such increase in southeastern Wisconsin since at least 2001. The increase was small ($0.03), but may portend coming changes in property tax trends.

Data from 2001 and later indicate that as the basic cost of running government has increased, so has the gross levy amount. This increasing levy has been cushioned by increasing property values, which have allowed municipal governments to decrease the tax rate applied to property owners each year.

This year, that trend was interrupted. While the levy amount continued its upward trend (increasing 6.1% this year), gross tax rates did not continue their decline. Whether this year's $0.03 increase in gross tax rates is the beginning of a new trend or an anomaly is the key question.