MADISON – The Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled 4-3 against two taxpayers challenging a controversial veto from Gov. Tony Evers in the state budget. The partial veto increased the property tax levy limit for school districts for 400 years, four centuries longer than the Legislature’s intent.
“We’re disappointed by today’s ruling,” shared WMC Executive Vice President of Government Relations Scott Manley. “Governor Evers exceeded his authority at the expense of taxpayers, and now our great-great-great-great-grandchildren will still be paying the price for his reckless disregard for the law.”
The WMC Litigation Center, on behalf of Jeffery LeMieux and David DeValk, argued the governor overstepped his authority with the veto by striking individual digits to form a new number that would increase appropriations, violating the 1990 constitutional amendment that limited such types of vetoes.
“Evers’ 400-year veto goes down in the history books as an embarrassing example of executive overreach, and an equally embarrassing example of a hyper partisan judicial ruling,” Manley continued. “It’s undemocratic and a shame to increase taxes on voters for four centuries without their approval. The Governor and Supreme Court have effectively stolen the Legislature’s exclusive authority under the Constitution to write the law.”
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