Understanding Your Tax Bill

Tax bills are mailed annually in mid-December. The following information will help to understand the different sections of the tax statement.

The image below shows a 2024 tax statement. Personal information has been removed. Each municipality bill might look slightly different, but the same general information is provided. Each green letter corresponds to a description below the image. A definition of the terms can be found at the end of the document.

Please note an important piece of information is not included on your property tax bill – the mill rate. The mill rate is the tax rate per $1000 of estimated fair market value for the school district portion of your tax bill. WUHS current mill rate (levy) rate is $4.15.

understanding your tax bill with labeled areas

Click on each letter to learn more

A- Referendum/Resolution Reminder

State law requires that the items listed here are displayed on Wisconsin property tax bills for each county, municipality, school district and technical college that has a temporary change in tax levy approved after December 31, 2014, by referendum or resolution (for towns with a population under 3,000). This is not a special assessment for any individual jurisdiction listed on the bill.

B-Assessed Value Land

C- Assessed Value Improvements

D- Total Assessed Value

E- Average Assessment Ratio

The total value of land and buildings, as determined by the assessor for the purpose of taxation. This figure is the sum of (B) and (C) and it may be higher or lower than the current market value of the property. This is multiplied by the net assessed value rate (tax rate) to determine the amount of tax that each property owner must pay.

For example, if the assessment of a parcel of land, which sold for $150,000 (fair market value) was $140,000, the assessment ratio is said to be 93% (140,000 divided by 150,000).

F- Net Assessed Value Rate (Tax Rate)

G- Estimated Fair Market Land

H- Estimated Fair Market Improvements

I- Total Estimated Fair Market Value

J- School Levy Tax Credit

The school levy tax credit is a credit that is paid to municipalities, not the school district. It issues revenues back to the public in an effort to offset property taxes. This credit is automatically applied to all properties that qualify. It is funded using income, sales and excise taxes.

Despite the fact that these funds do not go to schools, the state considers these dollars part of its commitment to education. School levy tax credits are distributed based on each municipality’s share of statewide levies for school purposes. These amounts are decided based on the value of an individual property as a percentage of the district’s total value.

K- Taxing Jurisdiction

L- State Aid

M- Information from Prior Years

N- Net Property Tax

O- First Dollar Credit and Lottery and Gaming Credit

Like the School Levy Tax Credit, the First Dollar Credit issues revenues back to the public to offset property taxes. This money does not go to schools, although the state considers it part of its commitment to education. It should be automatically applied to all qualifying properties.

The Lottery and Gaming Credit is a property tax credit, which is provided by the State from its lottery and gaming revenues. The lottery and gaming credit is determined in November of each year and depends on the revenue gained from lotteries, pari-mutuel on-track betting, and bingo for the year. In most cases, the credit is applied automatically.

Definition of Terms

The following terms are used on tax bills, in this document and in other written material about property taxes.

Assessed Value: The value that is assigned to property by the assessor for the purpose of taxation.

Assessment Ratio: The average assessment ratio is provided by the Wisconsin Department of Revenue and is used in calculating the estimated fair market value shown on tax bills. Assessed value is divided by the average assessment ratio to get the estimated fair market value.

Equalized Value: This is the estimated value of all taxable real and personal property in the district. The value used is the market value, which is the most probable selling price.

Fair Market Value: This is the real market value of a property. In other words, it is the price for which a property would be sold by a willing seller to a willing buyer, under normal market conditions.

Levy: The total amount of property taxes imposed by a taxing jurisdiction.

Taxation District: A city, village, or town. If a city or village lies in more than one county, this is the portion of the city or village which lies within each county.

Taxing Jurisdiction: Any entity authorized by law to levy taxes on property located within its boundaries. This includes the state, the city (or other local government), the county, the school district, and/or the local technical college.

Myth vs. Fact: School Funding and Property Taxes

Myth: School districts raised property taxes because they chose to spend more than inflation.

Fact: School districts can only raise revenue within state-imposed revenue limits. To spend more than those limits requires voter approval via an operating referendum. The state authorized a per-pupil revenue-limit increase that was less than inflation but did not provide the state aid necessary to fund it, shifting costs to property taxpayers.

Myth: Schools received “record funding” in the state budget.

Fact: While the budget included increases, those increases did not keep pace with inflation or rising fixed costs, and key components, like special education aid, remain underfunded due to sum-certain appropriations.

Myth: Referenda are a sign of poor local fiscal management.

Fact: Referenda are often the only remaining tool districts have to address structural gaps created when state funding does not keep pace with mandated costs and authorized spending authority. When schools are allowed to spend only increases that fall below the amount needed to keep pace with inflation, they must either cut programs and services for students or seek referendum approval. Oftentimes, they resort to both.

Myth: Property tax increases would have happened regardless of state action.

Fact: Historically, when the state matched revenue limit increases with increased general school aid, property tax impacts were significantly reduced. On a statewide basis, property tax increases were held in check. The 2025–27 budget broke from that precedent.

Myth: This is a local problem.

Fact: This is a statewide policy decision with statewide consequences. Districts across Wisconsin—urban, suburban, and rural—are experiencing the same pressures because the revenue limits apply uniformly and the school aid formula applies to all school districts. Almost three-quarters of Wisconsin’s school districts will receive less general aid than they did in the prior year. And the number of districts that lost so much aid they qualified for stop-gap hold-harmless funding increased by nearly 30% compared to the previous year.

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