Walker claims taxes are down

MADISON (AP) - Gov. Scott Walker's administration says property taxes dropped slightly last year.

The administration released a memo from the Department of Revenue showing that taxes on a median value home dipped 0.4 percent, the first time in 12 years they've decreased. The memo credits $3.6 billion in new construction with helping to ease the burden on existing homeowners.

The nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau had estimated last year that property taxes on a median value home would increase by nearly a full percentage point in 2011.

The actual 0.4 percent decrease equates to a drop of $11 for the owner of a median valued home of $157,600.

The average property tax bill on that same home was $2,951.