If you have heard it once, you have heard it a thousand times: “elections have consequences.” If you have read a column or two in these magazines, you have seen those very words written here before many times. To be frank, they are true, every time they are written. As a Wisconsin REALTOR^®, who you support at the ballot box matters. Issues you stand behind matter. Even the issues you oppose matter. And the timing of elections and when voters decide on crucial issues matters.

The time, effort, financial resources and grassroots outreach that REALTOR^® organizations put behind those efforts matter, they help put good policy into effect, and they help block bad policy from taking place.

Let’s look at local referendums for school funding. Since 2011, Wisconsin has successfully controlled property tax increases by placing strict levy limits on municipalities and counties. This freeze on property tax levy limits has saved Wisconsin property owners more than $12 billion in property tax relief. Therefore, when school districts want to increase their funding for a onetime or ongoing expense, the districts must go to the taxpayer to have them vote to increase their property taxes.

The freeze requires school districts to ask property taxpayers in their district to vote through referendum to exceed the levy limit. Therefore, even though the Wisconsin legislature froze the levy limit, property taxpayers by a vote can agree to raise their own taxes.

In theory, this is a great way to place power into the people’s hands when it comes to making decisions that directly impact their wallet and budget. This is especially true with first-time homebuyers as well as seniors on a fixed income as they budget their property taxes on an annual basis to ensure they can afford to live in their homes.

However, in practice, it does not seem to work out that everyone has an equal say. In fact, referendums that dramatically affect property taxes are placed on ballots during spring elections. Spring elections are notorious for low turnout.

When a referendum takes place during a spring election, the majority of those who vote to increase property taxes do not represent the majority of the community. To put it simply, when a low turnout only generates 30% of the community’s voters, and a measure passes by the thinnest of margins, it could mean that only 15% of the community supported passing that measure. 

This is not to say that supporting school referendums is something to shy away from. Our schools need funding as great school districts boost property values and increase the desire for people to move to these locations. But when a referendum is on the ballot that can dramatically increase property taxes, it should be decided by the largest number of voters in a community. Therefore, referendums should appear on ballots during a fall general election when more voters are going to the ballots to vote.

Let’s look back at referendums brought to voters in local elections in 2023. A total of 83 local referendums were on the ballot from Adams-Friendship to Yorkville. Of the 83 referendums introduced, 46 of those, or 55.4%, passed, which accounted for $636 million. To put that into perspective, that staggering sum would purchase more than 2,125 median-valued homes in the Badger State.

Luckily, all these referendums were part of the only election of the year that had significant statewide impact, as the 2023 spring general election included the Wisconsin Supreme Court race that elected Justice Janet Protasiewicz to the state’s highest court. 

Now, let’s look at 2024. There have been 103 referendums that appeared on the ballot so far in 2024. Nearly 58% of these referendums have passed and will cost property owners a mindboggling extra $1 billion on their property tax bills in the coming years. 

These 60 referendums were decided by less than 30% of the voting population. The biggest example was in Milwaukee where a $252 million referendum passed by the slimmest of margins: 1,700 votes separated those who supported and those who opposed the measure to increase school district funding. What many did not realize when voting to pass this referendum was that property taxes on the median-valued home in Milwaukee will now rise more than $400 a year. For many who are straddling the poverty line and are struggling with inflation and making mortgage payments, this increase in property taxes may push them over the edge.

Another item of note: As of the writing of this article, not a single referendum is on the ballot for the fall general election when turnout is expected to hit well above 50%. While some may appear on the fall ballot, many of those that do are attempts to get referendums that failed during the spring election back in front of voters less than a year after they have been defeated.

With the economy being a high priority for voters on both sides of the aisle this coming November, it is interesting the election that had the biggest consequence on people’s bottom line by increasing their property taxes already took place this year.

As the voice for property owners, take notice that low-turnout elections have a much bigger impact on your clients and customers than you might expect. The consequences of such elections can price people out of homes and put some out of reach of the American dream of homeownership, simply because the current system allows referendums that increase property taxes to appear on any ballot regardless of voter turnout.

It may be time to ensure that decisions regarding dependence on property owners to foot the bill for school funding and government funding are made when the largest amount of voters are at the polls.