GOP amendment would block tech colleges from using property taxes to pay for operations

Wisconsin technical colleges would no longer be able to use local property taxes to pay for operational expenses under a Republican bill amendment introduced Thursday. Instead, that funding would be replaced by state aid.

Technical college funding comes from a mix of sources including local property taxes, state aid and tuition revenue. An amendment to an unrelated bill, brought by State Rep. John Macco, R-Ledgeview, during a meeting of the State Assembly Committee on Ways and Means would strip technical colleges of their tax levying authority as it relates to operations and maintenance. Funding for operations would instead come from state aid.

The amendment was introduced Thursday and passed on a party line vote on the same day. Attempts to reach Macco for comment Friday were unsuccessful.

During the 2022-23 academic year, state tech schools generated more than $249 million for operational expenses via local property taxes, according to the Wisconsin Legislative Fiscal Bureau.

Technical college boards would still be able to use local property tax revenues to pay for construction, capital improvements and equipment.

A Friday statement from the Wisconsin Technical College System opposing the amendment noted it was passed “without opportunity for public testimony” and eliminates local control of college programs and services.

Wisconsin Technical College System President Morna Foy told Wisconsin Public Radio that the change would be the biggest shift in tech college funding in more than a century.

“It’s the investment and the engagement that we have with employers and community leaders and even students locally that kind of shape our program choices, how we deliver it,” Foy said.

Foy said her office was unaware of the amendment and tech colleges were not consulted prior to the Thursday hearing. She said aside from a loss of local control over operations funding, the change would make it harder for schools to respond to business needs.

“When an employer comes to them in the middle of a biennial budget season and says, ‘We need something,’ they don’t have time for us to wait till the next budget cycle,” Foy said.

The amended bill, which originally related to a repeal of personal property taxes on things like machinery and tools, now goes to the Assembly Committee on Rules.