Tomorrow, the State Legislature will vote on whether to override Gov. Doyle's veto of the property tax freeze.

Since this issue has become another political bitchslapping match, some things need to be said to bring some truth into the equation.

The property tax freeze will result in local governments having less control over their own budgets. While there is a provision for allowing residents the ability to have a referendum in order to raise property taxes, this is neither practical nor just. People elect representatives to make decisions on difficult issues, and that's what they should be doing in regards to budgeting.

That having been said, property taxes are disproportionately high in Wisconsin when compared to other states. That may be because we fund more through property taxes than other states do. It's been my position for some time that schools should be funded at the state level. Not only would this remove much of the inequity between school districts, it would drastically lower the property tax (although I acknowledge this would merely be a shift from one form of taxation to another). Mandates from the state, and rising costs are two primary factors in why property taxes have been on the rise.

This is how things have come together. Last year, Republicans tried to kill shared revenue to local governments entirely. Now this year, the budget was balanced by cutting shared revenue and education at the state level. Meanwhile, Republicans were disappointed by the fact the Gov. Doyle didn't break his pledge about raising state taxes in his budget. So they dusted off Sen. Bob Welch's property tax freeze bill that hadn't gotten anywhere under a Republican governor, and pushed it into the forefront. With a freeze, the state is essentially saying "we're taking away funding that you've utilized to maintain local services, and we're not going to allow you make up the funding on your own."

Do I believe the veto will be overridden? No, and I don't think the Republicans in the legislature believed it would be either. It's the best of both worlds if they don't win. They can continue to bash the governor, property taxes will continue to be an issue they can use to raise money, and they don't have to be responsible for the loss of services at the local level.