High property taxes are a top concern for many Wisconsin residents and businesses. In each of the past two legislative sessions, the Legislature has passed bills to freeze property taxes to put immediate controls on property taxes. These bills provided for three-year property tax levy and spending limits which would require that overall property taxes could increase no faster than the rate of property value growth due to new construction, so that property taxes on existing property would stay at roughly the prior year's level. The limits could be varied by local referendum. 

In both sessions, Governor Doyle vetoed the legislative freeze bills, although in 2005 he signed into law his own version, which relied more heavily on spending increases for state aid which were funded by transfers from dedicated funds and borrowing, and had less stringent spending controls than the legislative versions.