MADISON, Wis. (AP) - Gov. Scott Walker promised on Wednesday that property taxes won’t increase through 2018 if he is re-elected this year, an early campaign pledge that echoes the one he made almost exactly four years ago to create 250,000 jobs in his first term.
Walker didn’t reveal any of the details about how he intends to hold property taxes steady during a speech before the Wisconsin Realtors Association. Afterward, in response to questions from reporters, Walker said there would be a mixture of local spending controls and an increase in state money but the ultimate proposal would be worked out with input from the Legislature and others.
“We want to send a powerful message here that it is our goal that property taxes continue to go down,” Walker said. “We’ll be working this year into early next year on the specifics.”
The announcement was the first significant campaign pledge Walker has unveiled so far. And it comes before he’s officially launched his re-election effort, something Walker has said he will do in the spring.
But the promise also comes after a week in which Walker has been dogged by questions about a criminal investigation into illegal campaign activity by former aides in his Milwaukee County executive office. The release last week of 28,000 emails in that case spawned a new level of interest in the investigation, which closed last year with no charges against Walker.
The property tax promise also hearkened back to the campaign pledge Walker made four years and three days earlier - on Feb. 23, 2010 - in which he said if elected the state would add 250,000 private sector jobs by the end of this year. Most recent estimates show the state will only get about halfway there.
The timing of the announcement wasn’t lost on the campaign of Mary Burke, the Democrat who is challenging Walker.
“Given Walker’s failure to deliver on the last political promise he made in February of an election year Wisconsin families should see this for what it is - more empty political rhetoric at a time when Wisconsin is not creating enough jobs,” said Burke’s spokesman Joe Zepecki.
Burke, a former state Commerce Department secretary and Trek Bicycle Corp. executive, is also committed to holding the line on property taxes, Zepecki said.
While Burke has been critical of Walker’s job-creation efforts, she has yet to put forth her own plan, opening her to attacks from Republicans. Walker on Wednesday defended his promise to keep property taxes in check, even though it comes with no details, saying his record cutting taxes shows he can get it done.
“The proof is in the pudding,” Walker said.
Net property taxes increased less than 1 percent in each of Walker’s first two years in office, based on data provided by the Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance. That compares with an average annual increase of 4.46 percent the 10 years prior.
The Legislature this year is considering a $406 million property tax cut proposal from Walker that would be felt on tax bills mailed this December. Under that plan, property taxes on the typical median-valued $151,000 home would drop $131.
Property taxes are assessed and collected locally and can vary widely across the state based on the value of a home and the level of taxation by local governments and schools.
Walker’s promise got a positive response from Republican Senate President Mike Ellis.
“I think it’s a good goal,” Ellis said. “I absolutely think it’s a good goal. … It’s very realistic.”
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