Property Tax Increase Would Cost Wisconsin Mortgage Holders

Sorry, Wisconsin mortgage holders or potential applicants: the cost of owning a home may soon increase.

Governor Doyle proposed as much as a 4 percent increase to property taxes in his State Budget address Tuesday night.

If you’re out looking to buy on the market and this increase is passed, home mortgage brokers and Realtors say you may have to look at purchasing a cheaper home.

President of Security Realty in Wausau Glen Witter says: “It’s going to affect the amount of money they have available to buy a home on a monthly basis and it could affect the value of a home that they can afford by as much as $2,000.”

For home buyer LeeAnn Kitchell, this property tax increase affects what she’ll buy.

“It does affect our monthly payment, my families budget is definitely affected by what we pay in property taxes.”

But would this limit LeeAnn’s family on where they plan on settling?

“You tend to look at different areas, around Wausau, there are different ranges of property taxes and for my family’s budget, it definitely affects where we look for decent property tax rates that won’t affect our monthly payment too much.”

The increase would not only challenge buyers and Realtors, but the entire community.

According to Witter: “Any increase in taxes in any municipality, in any area, affects the ability of people to buy a home, and home sales could slow.”

While some areas in the economy could slow, some home buyers understand the rate hikes; they believe it’s important to fulfill the needs in a community, even if it adds to Wisconsin housing market costs.

Kitchell says: “Each community has to look at what their needs are and hopefully their leaders are being fiscally responsible and only good use that rate if they absolutely feels necessary or if there’s a lot of growth if they need to add services such as Kronenwetter, Westin, Mosinee.”