A 400-Year Veto Meets Today’s Tax Bills

Two wooden house models separated by a red boundary line on grass — Photo: flyingv3 / Shutterstock

Wisconsin homeowners just opened property tax bills showing the biggest statewide jump in nearly 20 years, and Republicans say a governor’s veto locked in the pain for the next four centuries.

Quick Take

Wisconsin property tax levies rose 5.8% on the latest bills, the sharpest increase in almost 20 years.
Governor Tony Evers used a 2023 partial veto to extend school funding increases through the year 2425.
The Wisconsin Supreme Court upheld the veto as constitutional in April 2025.
Republican leaders, including congressman Tom Tiffany, blame the veto for pushing up homeowner bills.
Democrats argue school boards still choose whether to raise taxes, and other pressures like inflation matter too.

A 400-Year Veto That Won’t Go Away

Wisconsin property tax levies jumped 5.8% on the latest bills, the biggest increase in nearly 20 years, according to a report covered by WBAY on September 9, 2026. The spike lands right as Republicans and Democrats fight over a 2023 budget veto that has come to define Wisconsin tax politics. Evers used his partial veto power to strike out digits in the state budget, stretching a $325 per-pupil funding increase for school districts out to the year 2425 instead of just two years.

The Wisconsin Supreme Court upheld that maneuver as constitutional in April 2025, ruling it fell within the governor’s broad partial veto powers. That ruling turned what critics call the “400-year veto” from a political talking point into settled law. Lawmakers have kept the fight alive anyway, with Republicans pushing a constitutional amendment to strip governors of the power to use partial vetoes to raise taxes or fees.

Republicans Tie the Veto to Rising Bills

Senate President Mary Felzkowski said after the court ruling that Evers had “cemented” actions that would raise property taxes “across Wisconsin for the next 400 years,” estimating the median homeowner would pay $246 more every two years. Congressman Tiffany has hammered the same message in his current campaign, saying Evers’s veto of Senate Bill 389 blocked an effort to end “his 400-year property tax increase”.

Without new state aid to backfill the higher spending limits, school districts “only had the option to raise property taxes or to forgo additional revenue,” according to reporting on the ongoing budget standoff. Realtor.com reported school levies climbed $327 million in 2024 alone, with further increases projected as long as lawmakers refuse to add new state funding. Americans for Prosperity-Wisconsin has praised Republican leaders for continuing to press the issue.

Democrats Push Back on the Blame

Democratic gubernatorial candidate David Crowley has refused to back a constitutional amendment limiting the governor’s veto power, telling reporters in Madison he would not vote to restrict that authority. A Wisconsin Examiner report noted that Crowley argues the veto “did not automatically mean taxes would increase,” since school boards still must vote to actually raise property taxes rather than accept a funding shortfall.

.@DavidCrowley SAYS he wants to make Wisconsin more affordable. His RECORD says otherwise: Property tax levy increases 5 of 6 years. Massive 80% sales tax hike. Staggering deficit. Opposed a 10% income tax cut. That’s his definition of Affordability? @WisGOP @WIGov #wipolitics https://t.co/HzAPkGDISJ

— Brian Schimming (@BrianSchimming) September 6, 2026

Fact-checkers at Politifact found property taxes rose “partly because” of the per-pupil funding increase, while also pointing to inflation pressures on school budgets as a separate driver. That’s a real distinction, but it doesn’t change the bottom line: Republicans offered to backfill the funding gap with state aid, and Evers’s own party has refused to let go of the veto that forces districts to choose between higher taxes or cutting services.

Repeal Push Hits a Wall in Madison

Assembly Speaker Robin Vos initially demanded repeal of the veto as a condition for any property tax relief deal, then backed off that demand in February 2026 while negotiations with Evers continued. Wisconsin Public Radio reported that as the legislative session neared its end, the “400-year veto” was still blocking a final agreement between Evers and Republican leaders on school funding and tax relief.

Evers has stood firmly behind his veto, reportedly telling critics his “400-year veto is here to stay” despite mounting Republican pressure. That defiance leaves Wisconsin families footing bills shaped by a policy locked in for four centuries, with no sign Evers or Crowley plan to unwind it even as homeowners absorb the largest levy increase in a generation.