Governor Tony Evers on Thursday signed the Republican-authored state budget, heralding its more than $2 billion in income tax cuts and vowing to provide an additional $100 million in federal money for the state’s schools beyond what the GOP provided.
In all, Governor Evers kept the most significant aspects of the GOP budget intact, using his veto power 50 times compared to the 78 vetoes he made in signing the state budget two years ago.
The budget will bring down the income tax rate from 6.27% to 5.3% for income between about $24,000 and $263,000 a year, or between $32,000 and $351,000 for married filers. All told, officials say the plan would save taxpayers $2.7 billion over the two-year period, including $2 billion of which would be direct tax cuts.
The budget also comes with about $650 million in property tax cuts, which would save the owner of a median-valued home about $100 in December, according to fiscal bureau estimates. In the next year, the tax bill on the same home would increase $32 from the previous year.
The budget still sets aside about $202 million in state funds to cover the cost of eliminating the state’s more than 170-year-old personal property tax, which businesses pay on equipment and machinery. However, Evers on Thursday vetoed separate bipartisan legislation that would have officially eliminated the tax.
Governor Evers said he planned to veto the legislation over concerns that it might provide tax cuts to manufacturers located outside the state who have warehouses in Wisconsin though Republicans amended the bill to address concerns before it passed the Legislature.