share by of the madison — gov. scott walker called a special legislative session thursday to use a projected $100 million surplus to push down property taxes on the typical home by 0.4% more than expected this year. the two-year proposal would lower the december tax bill on the median-valued home by an additional $13 over current estimates, to $2,925. next year, taxes under walker's plan would rise modestly so that over two years they would be an estimated $11 more than they are now on the typical home. the total property taxes levied around the state on all property — from homes and businesses to farmland — would still increase because of other factors, such as new construction. under walker's proposal, total property taxes would rise by 1.2% this year and 1.8% next year. they would simply not increase as much as they are projected to go up under the two-year state budget the governor signed in june. at a capitol news conference, walker said he wanted to deliver the tax cut for december's property tax bills and to do that lawmakers needed to act quickly because local officials are in the process of finalizing their budgets and determining their tax levies. "the more we looked at that, the more we looked at the size of the surplus, we said if we're going to do it, let's go big and go bold," walker told reporters. "let's have dramatic impact on the people of the state when they're paying their property tax bill." the move by the republican governor would further stretch the state's small cash reserves over the next two years at a time when a partisan budget fight in washington has eroded consumer confidence. the announcement came three days after democrat and former trek bicycle corp. executive mary burke announced she was challenging walker in the 2014 race. the early remarks by both candidates have focused on improving the state's economy. "i'm all in favor of lower taxes and supporting our schools, but i'd have to make sure that it really is doing just that, and it's doing it in a way that's fiscally responsible and balancing the budget," burke said during a green bay news conference thursday, according to video posted on the website of the green bay press-gazette. "we're at record-high debt levels and our budget is at an all-time high as well, so we have to make sure we're being responsible and accountable for the funds that we're using." walker's proposal would increase state aid to local schools by $100 million over the next two years but not allow them to increase their total spending as limited by state-imposed caps. that would have the effect of forcing school officials to lower property taxes. according to the legislative fiscal bureau, the typical state home is expected to see a $5 decrease in property taxes on december's bills to $2,938. walker's proposal would come on top of that, dropping property taxes an additional $13. for bills that go out in december 2014, the typical homeowner would see a property tax bill of $2,974 under current law. walker's plan would lower that number by $20. projections by the nonpartisan fiscal bureau estimate that the state's main account will finish the current budget in june 2015 with $191 million in it. that number will change tuesday when the state closes its books on the fiscal year ended in june — a process that in turn affects the state's starting balance for the current budget and all future projections. the $100 million in new school aid proposed by walker would have to come out of the surplus being revised next week. in addition, the state's rainy day fund has about $280 million in it, which amounts to a small fraction of the overall state budget. shortfall in next budget walker's proposal would add to the shortfall of $545 million that is already being projected by the fiscal bureau for the next state budget starting in 2015-'17. todd berry, president of the wisconsin taxpayers alliance, said the plan reminded him of a tactic used by former democratic gov. jim doyle to lower property taxes ahead of his successful 2006 re-election bid. berry said he was concerned that the hard-won surplus that the state is carrying into the current budget will be spent over the next two years despite the uncertainty hanging over the national economy. "we're spending more in this year and next year than we're taking in, and that's a fact," berry said. the plan will be formally introduced friday and the legislature's joint finance committee will hold a hearing on it and approve it on tuesday, said assembly speaker robin vos (r-rochester). the assembly will likely take it up two days later, on oct. 17, vos said. the senate could also take it up that day but might not do it until the following week,said sen. alberta darling (r-river hills), co-chairwoman of the finance committee. two other bills will be included in walker's special session — one to give a tax credit for historic preservation and one to grant towns tax incremental financing powers. the latter is aimed at helping development around a proposed amazon distribution center in kenosha, but democrats raised concerns about how broadly the measure could be applied elsewhere. too fast, dems say rep. sandy pasch (d-shorewood) said walker's timetable for passing the proposal in as little as a week was too fast and that democrats would need time to determine what the proposal means for schools, taxpayers and the state budget. pasch said she wanted to consider whether the state's economy would benefit more from the tax cut or more from allowing the money to be spent by schools to make up for past cuts. pasch said she also wanted to see how the additional spending by the state to cut local property taxes would affect the state's projected shortfall for the 2015-'17 budget. "people love that, of course. nobody wants to pay more in taxes," pasch said of the proposed cut. "the devil's in the details." pasch said that walker didn't mention the proposal in a meeting with democratic legislative leaders on wednesday. she questioned the timing of the proposal following burke's announcement monday of her candidacy. "it seems more politics than something that will have an impact for the average taxpayer," pasch said. "it gives me great pause." vos said the move would help improve the economy and allow taxpayers to benefit from the state's surplus. "the reforms we made early in (walker's) term with the republican-led legislature are really paying dividends for every single family across the state," vos said. "what we're doing today is sharing those dividends from the good decisions that have been made by the elected officials in madison with the hard-working families all across wisconsin." twitter: twitter.com/patrickdmarley and twitter.com/jasonmdstein
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