Wisconsin residents anecdotally report feeling the increasing strain of trying to afford a home. These experiences are borne out by market data showing more Wisconsin residents priced out of homeownership.

The Wisconsin Realtors Association publishes a measure of affordability in its monthly reports. The latest figures show that affordability statewide decreased by 10% over the past 12 months.

However, to dig into affordability on a place-by-place basis, the Badger Institute turned to data from Zillow Research.

Those figures show that across Wisconsin — not just in its largest metropolises but in smaller ones as well — there has been a sharp increase in the level of income required to afford a house.

When Gov. Tony Evers announced he would wallop Wisconsinites with more than $2 billion in tax increases, the chair of the Democrat caucus in the state Senate, Milwaukee’s Chris Larson, blurted his enthusiasm on X.

“Over the past decade-plus,” he wrote, Wisconsin’s “income tax rates have fallen across the board,” but the benefits went “mostly to the rich.”

Larson is simply wrong. Wisconsin’s progressive income tax currently has four brackets. People in the top bracket earn a bit under a quarter of all Wisconsin income but pay about a third of all income taxes. Their tax bills are disproportionately large, so the slightest cut means many dollars.

Scouting leaders say they’re hoping that legislation granting them a few minutes for a recruiting talk at the start of Wisconsin public schools’ academic year is more successful this time around.

The bill, sponsored by state Sen. Rachael Cabral-Guevara (R-Fox Crossing), is the same as last year’s, although the Assembly version has a new lead sponsor, Rep. Barbara Dittrich (R-Oconomowoc).

Last year, the measure sailed through both chambers on voice votes until it ran into a veto by Gov. Tony Evers. Will things come out differently?

In 2023, the median Milwaukee County household paid $4,210 in total property taxes on a home valued at $232,500, an effective property tax rate of 1.81%.

Dane County had the second highest effective rate of 1.57%. Dane County households paid the largest median property tax bill, at about $6,170, but the median Dane County home value was 69% higher than that of Milwaukee County, at $393,500. As a result, the effective tax rate was smaller than in Milwaukee County.

In Winnebago County, the median home value was $222,400 and the median property tax was $3,362, for an effective tax rate of 1.51%.

You, the Top Picks voters, were correct — though it didn’t take a crystal ball to anticipate the lack of action. Despite being ordered by Milwaukee County Judge David Borowski to have the officers stationed or be held in contempt of court, Milwaukee City Attorney Evan Goyke informed the court Wednesday that the city “cannot comply” with the timing of the order, citing specific training needs for the officers. Thursday Borowski followed through, holding the City of Milwaukee in contempt of court and fining it $1,000 per day until the officers are stationed.

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