{"id":693861,"date":"2026-06-09T17:04:09","date_gmt":"2026-06-09T17:04:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/693861\/"},"modified":"2026-06-09T17:04:09","modified_gmt":"2026-06-09T17:04:09","slug":"wisconsin-manufacturers-and-commerce-survey-property-tax-hikes-drive-push-for-state-tax-reform","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/693861\/","title":{"rendered":"Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce: Survey: Property tax hikes drive push for state tax reform"},"content":{"rendered":"

MADISON\u00a0\u2013 A majority of Wisconsin employers say the state\u2019s business climate is headed in the wrong direction, with their responses underscoring growing concerns about taxes and the state\u2019s workforce, according to the latest\u00a0Wisconsin Employer Survey.<\/a>\u00a0Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce (WMC) \u2013 the combined manufacturers\u2019 association and state chamber of commerce \u2013 conducts the survey twice a year to gauge top issues facing the state\u2019s business climate and economy.<\/p>\n

Over half of the nearly 200 respondents (56 percent) said Wisconsin is headed in the wrong direction when asked, \u201cWould you say that things here in Wisconsin are headed in the right or wrong direction?\u201d Similarly, when asked, \u201cHow do Wisconsin\u2019s state and local taxes impact your company\u2019s ability to compete with businesses in other states,\u201d 51 percent said taxes weaken their competitiveness, while just 6 percent said they improve it.<\/p>\n

Concerns about Wisconsin\u2019s tax environment were reinforced by property tax trends. A staggering 71 percent of respondents reported an increase in their property tax bill for owned or leased commercial property over the past year, while less than 1% saw a decrease.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s no wonder employers say Wisconsin is headed the wrong way: we\u2019re already among the highest-taxed states in the nation, with top-10 individual and property tax burdens and a top-12 corporate tax burden,\u201d said Kurt R. Bauer, WMC President\/CEO. \u201cProperty taxes are a punishing fixed cost, owed whether a business is just starting out, expanding, or struggling. With Governor Evers\u2019 400-year autopilot increase, Wisconsin is on track to climb even higher.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition to weary sentiment about the state\u2019s tax environment, a majority of employers (71 percent) support eliminating Wisconsin\u2019s personal income tax, with 46 percent saying they \u201cstrongly support\u201d it. Only 14 percent of respondents opposed eliminating the state\u2019s income tax.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome states roll out the red carpet for businesses; others roll out the red tape,\u201d Bauer continued. \u201cWisconsin taxes 95% of its businesses through the individual income tax rate\u2014what many rightly call a \u2018small business tax\u2019\u2014hitting them with one of the highest top rates in the country. If Wisconsin seeks to attract investment, businesses, and talent, we must reform our tax climate to make it more competitive with neighboring states and those across the country. More red carpet\u2014less red tape.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce represents businesses of all sizes and from every sector of the economy. The\u00a0Wisconsin Employer Survey\u00a0provides a snapshot of where Wisconsin\u2019s employers stand on important issues and outlines their economic outlook for both Wisconsin and the United States. For the Summer 2026 edition, WMC surveyed 196 employers that make up a representative sample of its membership and the state\u2019s business community as a whole.<\/p>\n

Read the Summer 2026 edition here.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MADISON\u00a0\u2013 A majority of Wisconsin employers say the state\u2019s business climate is headed in the wrong direction, with…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":430965,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[23,3,21,19,22,20,25,24],"class_list":["post-693861","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-states","tag-america","tag-news","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/693861","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=693861"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/693861\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/430965"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=693861"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=693861"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=693861"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}