While Democratic Gov. Tony Evers is retiring from political life, one policy will remain part of his legacy — and become a talking point in Democratic and Republican campaigns to succeed him.
That’s the “400-year veto,” the colloquial name for Evers’ maneuver in the 2023-25 state budget that essentially changed the game for public school funding.
In April, the state Supreme Court upheld it as an allowable use of the governor’s veto powers, which are considered the most expansive in the country. But it’s been a continued source of debate.
“The (Evers) Era locked Wisconsin families into a 400‑year property tax increase,” Americans for Prosperity posted on X on July 28, 2025, four days after Evers announced he wouldn’t seek reelection.
“His actions are now our problem,” said the conservative group, which advocates for policies such as income tax cuts and school choice.
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The graphic includes Evers’ two lieutenant governors — Sara Rodriguez, who is now running for governor herselfand Mandela Barnes, who was out of the office by the time Evers made the veto in 2023.
The 400-year veto has gotten plenty of attention, but not as much scrutiny into how school districts will use the funding increases — and what that means for your future property taxes.
We’ll take a closer look at a few key questions.
Will school districts use the $325 per pupil increase each year?
Let’s start with understanding what the veto actually did.
School districts have state-imposed limits on how much money they can take in through two sources: State general aid and property taxes. The veto raises those limits by $325 per student, per year, until 2425.
So, an initial question is whether school districts will take advantage of those increases or forgo them.
When we reached out to Americans for Prosperity’s Wisconsin chapter for backup, state director Megan Novak said “history and data point to the reasonable conclusion that Gov. Evers’ veto can and will raise property taxes.”
The group pointed to a state Department of Public Instruction spreadsheet that showed only about 14% of the state’s 421 school districts taxed below their limits in the 2024-25 school year.
Dan Rossmiller, executive director of the Wisconsin Association of School Boardssaid it’s “theoretically possible” that a school district would not choose to levy the maximum amount.
But “it’s unlikely that it would, given that inflation is running between 2 and 3% right now,” he said.
As school districts and the nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau pointed out in 2023the $325 per year doesn’t actually keep pace with inflation.
It’s safe to say school districts will take advantage of the increases.
Does that equate to higher property taxes, though?
Will property taxes go up because of the 400-year veto?
Let’s remember the second part of those revenue limits: State general aid.
To the dismay of some Democratsthe new state budget — a compromise between Republicans and Evers — did not include increases to general school aid.
And the Legislative Fiscal Bureau projected in 2023 that if lawmakers didn’t provide that aid in this budget, school districts could raise local taxes by around $260 million in 2025-26 and $520 million in 2026-27.
A report from the nonpartisan Wisconsin Policy Forum found property tax levies for K-12 schools rose $327 million in 2024. That was driven by the $325 boost, but also funding referendums approved by voters.
We’ll get a better picture of the 2025 numbers come fall, when school districts set their tax levies.
“In general, the larger the revenue limit increase, the larger the property tax increase — unless state lawmakers also significantly raise general school aids,” the report explained.
Because there were no general aid increases in the 2025-27 budget, expect K-12 property taxes to go up.
Are these funding increases ‘locked’ in for 400 years?
Onto the final part of the claim: Are these property tax increases guaranteed for the next 400 years?
Rossmiller argued it’s not necessarily the case that Evers “locked” Wisconsinites into a 400-year property tax increase, for a few reasons.
One, the Legislature could boost general school aids in future state budgets, or increase credits meant to reduce tax bills.
Lawmakers “could provide enough money to negate any property tax increase, if they choose to,” Rossmiller said.
Another reason this increase might not last for the full 400 years?
GOP lawmakers are trying to repeal the law, an effort that could succeed if a Republican replaces Evers as governor and Republicans maintain legislative control.
Property taxpayers are “locked into it, until such time that the Legislature changes (the law),” Rossmiller said.
Republicans could repeal the law, Democrats could provide more general school aid, or either party could completely overhaul the way schools get funding, for example.
Still, we can’t predict when the state government will switch partisan control. And at PolitiFact Wisconsin, we rate claims based on current law — even if it’s likely to change one day.
Our ruling
Americans for Prosperity, a conservative group, said “the (Evers) Era locked Wisconsin families into a 400‑year property tax increase.”
There’s reason to believe school districts will keep using those $325 per student increases as they deal with inflation.
And, the new budget included no increases to general school aids, meaning districts are likely to raise property taxes as they did in 2024.
While no one expects the law — and permanent increases in property taxes — to stay in place for all 400 years, we also can’t rate the claim based on what we don’t know about the future.
Our definition of Mostly True is “the statement is accurate but needs clarification or additional information.”
That fits here.
