Two Walker administration officials have been touring the state getting feedback on what residents would like to see to improve the business climate and lower taxes.
Lt. Governor Rebecca Kleefisch and Revenue Secretary Rick Chandler talked with Northwoods residents Friday at Nicolet College in Rhinelander.
Kleefisch says property taxes paying for schools is dealt with in different ways in other states....
"....there are some states that fund their schools through sales tax. There are some states that fund their schools through different channels, different funnels of money. In Wisconsin, this is just how we do it. In Michigan, don't they do sales tax?
Chandler says Wisconsin's school property tax is above the national average...
"....overall on property taxes you can see we're above the national average. We do devote less in the way of property tax revenues to schools than we did 20 years ago....(when) we moved to two-thirds funding state schools and one-third property tax...."
Most school administrators say the state pledged to reach the two-thirds funding level, but the revenues never came in to accomplish that. They also asked what relationship income taxes have to economic development.
Kleefisch and Chandler have held a number of roundtable discussions to look at Wisconsin's taxation and how it affects the business climate.
