(The Center Square) – People in Wisconsin are sending nearly 30% of their paychecks to the government, but a new report says that’s the smallest share since the 1970.
The Wisconsin Policy Forum’s report says the state and local tax burden in Wisconsin jumped from 9.96% to 10% in 2023.
That was driven in large part by local tax increases.
“Local tax collections rose by 3.2% in 2023, more than the increase of 2.0% in the previous year but still in line with those in 2020 and 2021 and less than the rate of inflation over this period,” the report noted. “Meanwhile, as the economy decelerated, personal income levels rose just 2.0% in calendar year 2022. As a result, the local tax burden rose slightly to 3.30%, up from 3.26% in 2022.”
Property taxes also went up.
“The key local funding source for most local services in Wisconsin, gross property taxes, rose 2.4% to $12.51 billion in 2023,” the report added.
The report does not include the new sales taxes in Milwaukee and Milwaukee County. The city added a new 2% sales tax that took effect January 1, and Milwaukee County added .4% to its sales tax.
The report says those two taxes should show-up on next year’s tax burden report.
Wisconsin’s state tax collections also jumped in 2023, but that was because of more money to tax, not because of higher taxes.
“After substantial increases in recent years, the growth in state tax collections cooled last year. Total state tax revenues rose 2.1%, to $24.27 billion in 2023, which was a slowdown from the preceding two years,” the report explained. “The state tax burden in 2023 stayed exactly the same at 6.70%. That makes each of the last two years tied for the lowest state burden in the Forum’s more than 50 years of data.”
The report doesn’t offer credit for Wisconsin’s lowest tax burden since the 19970s, but Republican lawmakers say they deserve the credit.
Rep. Tyler August, R-Lake Geneva, took to social media to say legislative Republicans have prioritized holding the line on taxes for the past decade.
“Wisconsin’s state and local tax burden still near historic low,” August said in a tweet. “Since first being elected, one of my top priorities has been to reduce the tax burden on Wisconsin families.”
