Tax relief numbers add up

In May 2017, Gov. Scott Walker made a claim about tax cuts since he took office in 2011.

He said the cuts that had been approved, and those that were proposed in his 2017-’19 state budget, would “exceed $8 billion by the time the budget is done.”

We rated the statement True. Now the budget is done and Walker is making the claim without qualifications. For example, he declared on May 31 on Twitter:

“Since taking office, we have enacted more than $8 billion in cumulative tax relief.”

Campaigning for a third term in the November election, it’s a statement Walker will repeat.

Let’s see if it’s right.

The numbers

The governor’s office provided us tallies from the State Budget Office. They show that through June 2019, when the current 2017-’19 state budget ends, the tax cuts will exceed $8.85 billion.

We also went to a nonpartisan source, the state Legislative Fiscal Bureau, which did calculations in May and arrived at a slightly lower figure.

The fiscal bureau told us it estimated the reduction in general fund tax revenue and property tax revenue, as a result of tax law changes enacted since 2011, at $8.47 billion:

❚ Income and franchise tax reductions: $4.82 billion.

❚ Property tax reductions: $3.56 billion.

❚ Other tax cuts: $90 million.

❚ Total tax reductions 2011 through mid-2019: $8.47 billion.

Democrats’ reaction

We asked the state Democratic Party (eight Democrats are running in the August primary for the right to challenge Walker) about Walker’s claim. The party did not challenge the $8 billion tally, but criticized a number of Walker’s policies. Among them:

❚ State tax cuts adopted since 2011 have disproportionately gone to Wisconsin residents with the highest incomes, according to an analysis by the nonprofit Wisconsin Budget Project.

❚ The manufacturing and agricultural tax credit gave an estimated $22 million in credits to 11 individuals who had an adjusted gross income of $30 million or more in 2017, according to the state fiscal bureau.

Our rating

Walker says: “Since taking office, we have enacted more than $8 billion in cumulative tax relief.”

The state’s official nonpartisan budget scorekeeper puts the figure — since Walker took office in 2011 and through the current budget that runs through mid-2019 — at $8.47 billion.

We rate Walker’s statement True.