Understanding Your Property Tax Bill
Why did school district taxes increase?
State funding decisions are a significant reason taxes increased this year. While taxes increased, it did not result in revenue increases for school districts that kept pace with inflation.
For the 2025–26 school year, the Sheboygan Area School District received $2.6 million less in state aid. When the state pays less, local taxpayers must make up the difference. If state funding had remained stable and voucher payments had not increased, the school tax increase would have been about 5.2% instead of 15%.
Other key factors include:
- No increase in state aid to public schools, despite a $4.6 billion state surplus
- Special education funding is falling short, creating an $800,000 gap
- State revenue limits have not kept pace with inflation, resulting in approximately $32.5 million less each year since 2009
- Wisconsin has fallen from 11th to 26th nationally over the past twelve years in per-student school funding—the fastest decline of any state
- Growing voucher school costs, now 19% of the school tax levy
- No impact from the middle school construction referendum on this tax increase
This article was featured in our Winter 2026 community mailer. Read the full newsletter below.
- What caused this year's tax increase?
- Is the district spending more?
- Did the middle school referendum cause this?
- Could the tax increase have been smaller?
- How does special education funding factor in?
- Is the SASD financially stable?