Budget / taxes
Ted Neitzke: The “taxes will be halved” statement and the City's own ten-year forecast
Promise vs outcome
Exact statement
“What's going happen is if you live in Port Washington, your property taxes will be halved. Who says that?” [1]
Ted Neitzke, Interview reported by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, December 30, 2025
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel columnist James N. Fitzhenry published the statement on February 15, 2026, from a December 30 interview with Neitzke.[2][3] Five months before the interview, a City release quoted Neitzke saying the development agreement would “relieve the tax burden on our residents” and estimated that, assuming a flat budget, taxes on a $350,000 home would decrease by $170 per year.[4][5]
What the record shows
The City's August 18, 2026 outlook projects the city-only tax bill on a $400,000 home, using a 2025 base, at $2,205 in 2027 and then increasing each year to $3,413 in 2036.[6] That is an increase of about 55 percent between the forecast's endpoints.[7] The same table shows a one-year decrease of $98, or 4.2 percent, in 2027.[8][9] The levy used in planning rises from $10,575,540 in 2027 to $16,557,364 in 2036.[10] The outlook subtracts projected TID incremental values from total assessed value to derive the net assessed value that supports the local tax levies.[11]
“$400,000 home (2025 base) $2,205 $2,328 $2,370 $2,409 $2,484 $2,672 $2,819 $2,956 $3,149 $3,413” [12]
2027–2036 Financial Outlook, August 18, 2026
Context
The City prepared the 2027–2036 Financial Outlook for the 2027 budget process.[13] The document says its forecasts and projections are intended to help evaluate fiscal impacts from the attached ten-year capital-project planning schedule.[14] It also states that the project planning schedule is not a budget or City Council approval to move forward with the projects.[15]
Analysis
Neitzke said Port Washington property taxes “will be halved,” without stating a timeframe in the quoted words.[16] The City's later staff forecast does not project a halving of the city portion of the bill during 2027–2036.[16][12] Instead, it projects that portion at $2,205 in 2027 and $3,413 in 2036, an increase of about 55 percent.[7] The forecast does show a $98, or 4.2 percent, one-year decrease in 2027.[8][9] This is a planning forecast, not an adopted budget, and its homeowner table covers only the City tax rate, not the school district, county or Milwaukee Area Technical College portions of a total property-tax bill.[15][17][18]
Sources
Statement source
Deadline for mayor recall brings data center debate to head | Opinion — Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Pinpoint: Paragraph immediately before the heading “Neitzke sees project as economic development game-changer”; interview date in paragraph beginning “The entire international industry is watching us”.
Record source
2027–2036 Financial Outlook — City of Port Washington, Wisconsin
Pinpoint: Cover and PDF pp. 3–4, 8–9; especially p. 9, lines 14, 26–32.
Every source on this page
Each numbered mark in the text links here. Every excerpt is quoted word for word from the source.
Deadline for mayor recall brings data center debate to head | Opinion — Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Where: Paragraph immediately before the heading “Neitzke sees project as economic development game-changer”
“I'm totally fine with whatever the fates have in store because I know what's going to happen,” he said. “What's going happen is if you live in Port Washington, your property taxes will be halved. Who says that?”
Deadline for mayor recall brings data center debate to head | Opinion — Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Where: Byline and publication date; paragraph beginning “The entire international industry is watching us”
“Portrait of James N. Fitzhenry James N. Fitzhenry Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Feb. 15, 2026, 5:03 a.m. CT”
Deadline for mayor recall brings data center debate to head | Opinion — Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Where: Paragraph beginning “The entire international industry is watching us”
“Neitzke said in a Dec. 30 interview, where he invited me to learn more about the city's due diligence in approving the project and to tour the construction site.”
Agreement for New Data Center Campus — City of Port Washington, Wisconsin
Where: PDF p. 1, Neitzke quotation
“With this agreement in place, we can move forward on a generational opportunity to improve our infrastructure, relieve the tax burden on our residents and boost our local businesses.”
Agreement for New Data Center Campus — City of Port Washington, Wisconsin
Where: PDF p. 2, section “Near-Term and Long-Term Tax Revenue Boosts for the City”
“This new revenue would provide property tax relief for residents; according to City estimates, property taxes on a $350,000 home would decrease by $170 per year, assuming a flat budget.”
2027–2036 Financial Outlook — City of Port Washington, Wisconsin
Where: Cover date; PDF p. 9, “City Only Tax Rate,” lines 29–30
“$400,000 home (2025 base) $ 2,205 $ 2,328 $ 2,370 $ 2,409 $ 2,484 $ 2,672 $ 2,819 $ 2,956 $ 3,149 $ 3,413”
2027–2036 Financial Outlook — City of Port Washington, Wisconsin
Where: PDF p. 9, “City Only Tax Rate,” lines 29–30; calculated as ($3,413 ÷ $2,205 − 1) × 100 = 54.8%
“$400,000 home (2025 base) $ 2,205 $ 2,328 $ 2,370 $ 2,409 $ 2,484 $ 2,672 $ 2,819 $ 2,956 $ 3,149 $ 3,413”
2027–2036 Financial Outlook — City of Port Washington, Wisconsin
Where: PDF p. 9, lines 31–32, 2027 column
“Change from prior year (98)”
2027–2036 Financial Outlook — City of Port Washington, Wisconsin
Where: PDF p. 9, lines 31–32, 2027 column
“% Change from prior year -4.2%”
2027–2036 Financial Outlook — City of Port Washington, Wisconsin
Where: PDF p. 9, line 14, 2027 and 2036 columns
“Levy Used in Planning (17+18) $ 10,575,540 $ 11,449,671 $ 11,982,475 $ 12,054,869 $ 12,296,502 $ 13,075,257 $ 14,188,950 $ 14,705,133 $ 15,476,694 $ 16,557,364”
2027–2036 Financial Outlook — City of Port Washington, Wisconsin
Where: PDF p. 8, paragraph beginning “In order to more accurately calculate”
“the estimated incremental values of the TID’s on lines 23-26 are subtracted from the total assessed value of the city. This then derives the “net assessed value” which is the tax base that supports the local tax levies.”
2027–2036 Financial Outlook — City of Port Washington, Wisconsin
Where: PDF p. 9, “City Only Tax Rate,” lines 29–30
“$400,000 home (2025 base) $ 2,205 $ 2,328 $ 2,370 $ 2,409 $ 2,484 $ 2,672 $ 2,819 $ 2,956 $ 3,149 $ 3,413”
2027–2036 Financial Outlook — City of Port Washington, Wisconsin
Where: PDF cover
“City of Port Washington 8/18/26 2027 – 2036 Financial Outlook In preparation for the 2027 budget process”
2027–2036 Financial Outlook — City of Port Washington, Wisconsin
Where: PDF p. 3, opening paragraph
“The primary objective of this analysis is to be able to use forecasts and projections to help evaluate the various fiscal impacts that would occur as a result of implementing the attached 10-year capital project planning schedule.”
2027–2036 Financial Outlook — City of Port Washington, Wisconsin
Where: PDF p. 4, “Appendix A: 2027-2036 Capital Project Planning Schedule”
“The project planning schedule does not represent a budget or the City Council’s approval to move forward with these projects.”
Deadline for mayor recall brings data center debate to head | Opinion — Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Where: Paragraph immediately before the heading “Neitzke sees project as economic development game-changer”
“What's going happen is if you live in Port Washington, your property taxes will be halved. Who says that?”
2027–2036 Financial Outlook — City of Port Washington, Wisconsin
Where: PDF p. 9, heading above lines 28–32
“City Only Tax Rate”
Agreement for New Data Center Campus — City of Port Washington, Wisconsin
Where: PDF p. 2, section “Near-Term and Long-Term Tax Revenue Boosts for the City”
“The Port Washington-Saukville School District, Ozaukee County and Milwaukee Area Technical College also would benefit from new tax revenue.”
Correction or added context
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