Lawmakers at the Wisconsin Capitol are looking to do something about the rising cost of property taxes in the new year. 

Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald. R-Juneau, said there is plenty of interest in cutting property taxes in 2020. 

"I know it's still anecdotal, but people are concerned about a bump in their property tax bills," Fitzgerald said. "Most of that has been generated by decisions made at the local level."

The Wisconsin Policy Forum (WPF) reports that property taxes in Wisconsin are at their highest level in a decade. The group issued a report that says homeowners are seeing a nearly five percent spike in property taxes this year. Most of that has been driven by local referendum questions for local schools. 

The WPF says property taxpayers are covering $5.2 billion in costs for schools in Wisconsin. 

"In the past there's been some concern about the referendum, the size of referendum, and the number of referendum that are passing," Fitzgerald said. "I think those are starting to show up on the property tax bills."

Fitzgerald says he doesn't know how much property tax relief the state can provide. He said that will depend on how much revenue the state sees. 

Gov. Tony Evers is cool to the idea of a tax cut. He told the CapTimes that it's too early to talk about spending any surplus money. The governor wants to spend more on water quality and education needs. 

Fitzgerald said there's long been a conversation about limiting what local schools can ask for in a referendum, but he said that is not part of the back-and-forth over a possible tax increase. 

Local voters in Wisconsin have approved most of the referendum questions that they have seen recently. The Policy Forum says in 2018 alone, voters approved 90 percent of the school referendum questions on the ballot. Those taxes rose by $2 billion. And local schools are not done. Several schools districts across the state, including Milwaukee Public Schools, are looking to put more referendum questions on the April 2020 ballot.