The state Senate passed a three-year property tax freeze by a 20-13 vote Tuesday, but Gov. Jim Doyle said he will veto it, possibly as soon as this morning.
In a nearly party-line vote that mirrored the Assembly's passage of the bill Thursday afternoon, all 19 Republicans and Sen. Tim Carpenter, D-Milwaukee, approved the bill, while all other Democrats voted against it.
\Republicans made a promise to listen and act on property taxes,"" Senate Majority Leader Dale Schultz, R-Richland Center, said in a statement Tuesday. ""Today we delivered on that promise.""
Schultz said the freeze would lower the tax bill on the average Wisconsin home by $1 in 2005 and $10 in 2006.
The bill freezes the property tax levy for public schools at this year's level, $3.6 billion. Local governments can only increase their December property tax levies by an amount equal to new construction in their communities. This has averaged 2.6 percent in recent years, according to the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel.
If he can get the bill quickly, the governor plans to veto it in an appearance at a West Allis school on Wednesday, the Journal Sentinel reported Tuesday. Doyle is opposed to the bill because he claims it will cut $716 million from the state's schools.
""Wisconsin's citizens shouldn't have to choose between quality schools and property tax relief,"" Doyle said in a statement.
