Republicans in Wisconsin’s state house are attempting to override a veto by Gov. Doyle striking down a budget item that would freeze property-tax hikes.

Republicans cited Doyle’s veto of the line item in the Legislature’s GOP-approved state budget as an example of the governor backing out of his campaign pledge not to increase taxes in attempts to bridge the states’ budget deficit.

Doyle spokesman Dan Leistikow said the governor is confident his policy is sound and his veto will be upheld.

“He trusts local officials a lot more than the big spending legislative leaders that got us into this $3.2 billion deficit,” Leistikow said.

The nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau has issued a report citing a possible rise in property taxes of $955.7 million over the next two years if local governments are allowed to go unrestrained in their assessment of property-tax rates.

“[The billion-dollar figure] is really a trumped-up number,” Leistikow said. “It doesn’t account for the promises of local officials to hold the line on property taxes.”

Tom Petri, spokesman for Sen. Alberta Darling, R-Fox Point, said the Republican Legislature will take up the matter Aug. 12.

“A vote has been scheduled for Tuesday morning in extraordinary session,” he said. “The property-tax veto is the only issue on the agenda. The debate in the Senate could progress well into the night, but the Assembly will have action right away in the morning.”

Petri said the vote will remain unknown by most everyone involved until the very end.

“Sen. Panzer (the Senate’s ranking Republican) has not been told by four Democrats that they will vote with the Republican bloc. [The direction of the vote] is going to be the best-kept secret and will be a real last-minute decision for a lot of people.”

Republicans in the Senate need 24 of the possible 33 votes, a two-thirds majority, to override Gov. Doyle’s veto.

An analysis of the issue by UW professors Andrew Reschovsky and Steven Deller suggests that the average city will have to cut services by an average of $60 per person under a property-tax freeze. It also suggests that towns with more than 5,000 residents would face average cuts of 11 percent, and villages with more than 2,500 residents would see cuts closer to 8 percent.

The university’s student-run Tenant Resource Center, which provides landlord mediation and other renter services to students, has not taken a position on the issue.