The WBA, as a member of the Coalition to Repeal Wisconsin’s Personal Property Tax, successfully advocated for a $75 million reduction in the personal property tax last session. WBA President and CEO Michelle Vetterkind twice testified to legislative committees on behalf of broadcasters, arguing that the personal property tax is a burden to broadcasters, who maintain many pieces of equipment subject to the tax. As a result, WBA members will see reductions on their 2018 personal property tax bill they receive from their local municipalities in December of 2018.
In the upcoming 2019-2021 State Budget, the WBA and the 51-member state-wide Coalition will push for full repeal of the unfair, and now extremely confusing, tax.
Specifically, the Legislature exempted “machinery” from the personal property tax, defined as follows: a structure or assemblage of parts that transmits force, motion, or energy from one part to another in a predetermined way by electrical, mechanical, or chemical means.” In addition, the proposal provided a reimbursement to municipalities to cover the loss, but based the reimbursement on the value of machinery tools and patterns reported on Schedule C.
This disconnect between how the exemption was defined and how it was to be reimbursed has forced businesses and municipalities to play a game of political chicken with local assessors. Businesses have been submitting revised Statements of Personal Property Tax that do not include “machinery” and some municipalities have responded with their own revisions to the statement that puts the assessed value of machinery back on the statement. For the most part, municipalities have allowed machinery exemptions based on the definition, but the large cash-strapped municipalities are digging in their heels and not allowing the exemptions. The result has left those businesses and municipalities playing chicken to see who gives in first.
Members of the Coalition are continuing to fight for full repeal of the personal property tax and point to this latest round of exemptions as another example of the vast confusion of the law. In order to provide feedback and examples to Gov. Walker and members of the Legislature, the Coalition is asking for the help of businesses by completing a survey on personal property tax. The survey will take a few minutes to complete and will be immensely valuable to the coalition as we continue to advocate for full repeal of the personal property tax.
