9.2.2026

The 400-Year Veto is Heating up Your Property Taxes More and More

It’s not yet Labor Day, but Wisconsin taxpayers will soon be bearing the brunt of even higher property taxes.

During the 2023 budget cycle, Governor Tony Evers used his extensive line-item veto authority to turn a $325 school funding increase for two years into an increase for 400 years. The power of the Governor to do this has been affirmed by the Wisconsin Supreme Court, meaning that taxpayers in Wisconsin are locked into these increases barring legislative changes approved by the Governor in the future.

But often, when the 400-year veto is discussed, the context is usually the annual increase of $325 per student. But this may tend to undersell what Governor Evers has done with his creative veto. The $325 is not a one-time cost, but rather snowballs every single year, growing by $325 annually. The graph below shows the

Since 2023, inflation has raised costs by about 9% according to the most recent information from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The amount of taxing authority under the 400-year veto has gone up 300% over this time frame. The 400-year veto has effectively become a permanent, compounding expansion of school districts’ taxing authority.

Some have argued that Evers’ veto does not constitute a tax increase because it is left within the discretion of school districts whether to use this authority or not. This is true on its face, but doesn’t recognize the reality that most school districts historically have utilized most of the revenue limit authority provided to them. According to the most recent data from DPI, only 77 school districts in the state under-levied by more than $1 in 2025-26. The average amount of the under-levy was $21,673—or slightly more than the revenue generated by one student in the average school district. The table below depicts the largest under-levying by districts around the state.

While the amount added under the 400-year veto may some day be less than the inflation related increase needed to keep schools at the same level of funding, one would hope Governors following Evers would recognize the absurdity of this veto and at minimum agree not to utilize it in this manner in the future. But as of now the possibility remains open for a future Governor to change the will of the legislature–setting up even larger tax increases for even longer lengths of time.

Fortunately there is an opportunity for Wisconsin voters to prevent Crowley—or any other Governor—from abusing power in this manner in the future. The ballot this Fall will include a constitutional amendment that will prevent Governors from using the line-item veto to increase taxes. The 400-year veto demonstrates why that reform is necessary. A power that can turn a two-year policy into a 400-year commitment is simply too consequential to leave unchecked. Wisconsin voters now have an opportunity to ensure that future Governors cannot use the veto pen to create similarly open-ended increases in the taxes Wisconsin families are asked to pay.

See how much the 400-year veto may have raised your property taxes so far (and into the future) with the interactive table below. Note that the aid formula shifts aid around between districts based on property value per member, so the actual amount of tax impact may be slightly different.