The Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty (WILL) released a new property tax calculator to help Wisconsinites estimate the significant financial impact that repealing Act 10—major collective bargaining reforms passed in 2011—could have on their personal finances.  

This free, easy-to-use tool allows individuals to input their school district and property value, providing them with an estimated increase in property taxes if Act 10 were repealed. While this doesn’t capture the total cost of repealing Act 10, it is a reasonable estimation.  

According to WILL Research Director, Will Flanders,

“Act 10 has been a win for Wisconsin taxpayers, slowing the growth of government and the constant threat of massive property tax hikes. Without it, taxpayers could be on the hook for billions in tax increases in the coming years. School districts and local governments could once again be pressured to cater to public-sector union demands, leaving hardworking taxpayers to shoulder the burden of skyrocketing costs.” 

Why This Matters: As Wisconsin courts consider the future of Act 10, WILL’s previous research has shown that repealing Act 10 could cost taxpayers over $2 billion each year, including: 

 
• $1.6 billion annually in new costs for school districts 
• $480 million annually in new costs for local governments 

While the prior research focused on the statewide impacts, this new analysis is even more relevant to individual Wisconsinites because it allows them to estimate how much their own property taxes would increase should the law be repealed.  

Statewide we estimate that school districts could face $1.788 billion annually in new costs if Act 10 were repealed. This largely aligns with WILL’s previous estimate of $1.6 billion in additional annual costs to school districts.  

For an average Wisconsin home valued at $300,000, property taxes could increase by $624 or more annually if the costs were shifted to taxpayers. However, these potential increases can range greatly between districts. The chart below shows the potential tax increases on a $300,000 home for a variety of school districts around the state.

To estimate the potential financial impact of repealing Act 10, we analyzed the publicly available “All Staff” file from the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI), which tracks employee salaries and benefits over time. Here are the key factors that went into our analysis:  

• Before Act 10, taxpayers covered most of school employee health benefits, including: 
• 100% of pension contributions, which are now split between the employer and employee equally; and 
• Nearly all of health insurance costs, of which 12.6% is now employee-paid 
• We adjusted inflation for 2009 salary and benefits to 2024 dollars and compared them to actual 2024 figures.  
• The difference between these two figures represents the potential taxpayer burden should Act 10 be repealed.  

Read more:  
Analysis Act 10 Repeal: What It Will Cost You
Back to the Past: The Fiscal Threat of Reversing Act 10 for Local Governments
Back to the Past: The Fiscal Threat of Reversing Act 10 in Public Education