The Madison Metropolitan School District has proposed an 8.5% increase in its property tax levy for the 2026-27 school year as part of a preliminary $609 million operating budget.
The draft budget includes salary increases for veteran teachers, paid parental leave, additional school safety staff and expansion of community recreation facilities near West Towne Mall. Property taxes for the owner of an average Madison home valued at roughly $500,000 would rise by about $311, or 6.4%, under the proposal.
The increase follows a 20.4% levy hike last year, the largest in more than three decades, which came after voters approved facilities and operating referenda in 2024.
The Madison School Board is scheduled to review and vote on a final version of the budget later this year. District officials have cited steady enrollment, a growing property tax base and prior referendum support as factors in the proposal.
The increased property tax levy follows huge statewide increases in rates after Gov. Tony Evers’ partial veto in the 2023-25 state budget extended school revenue limit increases from two years to the year 2425. The move highly controversial and constitutionally dubious maneuver has become known as the “400-year veto” and is the singular driver of skyrocketing property tax rates.
This year’s rates increased by the largest amount in more than three decades as districts exercised the expanded authority amid limited new state aid. Evers’ maneuver gives them the ability to continue to increase levies by $325 per pupil per year for the next 399 years.
According to a study by WalletHub, Wisconsin’s property tax burden is currently the eighth-highest in the nation.
