Madison homeowners are likely to see a property tax increase this year to fund the Madison Metropolitan School District’s budget, although a number of factors in flux at the city and state levels will affect the final tax rate.

Despite the chances of a tax increase, the school district is still looking into all its options to avoid a tax hike, Madison
School Board member TJ Mertz said.

“It is clear that if the school district wants to maintain or improve the quality of educational services, there will be some tax increase,” Mertz said. 

It is still in the beginning of a long process and it is impossible to say how
much the tax increase will be, Mertz said.

City Assessor Mark Hanson said he does not think the increase in property taxes for the school district will have a major effect on the tax rate for the coming year.

Madison’s school district takes up around 40 percent of the tax rate but Madison Area
Technical College, Dane County and the city of Madison all need to set their
budgets before the rate of the tax increase can be determined, Hanson said.

Just because Madison’s school district is estimating a 7 percent increase
in property taxes does not mean it is going to be 7 percent across the board,
Hanson said. Historically, it has been a 4 to 5 percent increase, so the tax rate
will likely go up a bit, he said.

The state budget will also be a factor in setting the tax rate this year, depending on how
much aid will be given to schools and municipalities, he said.

Hanson added the city of Madison estimated a 1 percent increase in assessed
values, but even with the new assessment, it is difficult to determine what taxes will
be.

“Property taxes are a last resort. Every other source of revenue is looked at first and whatever is left over that the school and city need to operate on is the property tax,” Hanson said. “It makes up the gap in revenue from other sources.”