Bill would open door to higher property taxes for small business
Local governments want to rewrite the rules on property taxes, allowing cities to tax leases, licenses and permits as real property.   

What if you had to pay property tax on the potential value of your liquor license?
The City of Madison and City of Milwaukee are behind the proposal, currently circulating at the Capitol.

While it is unclear how the bill would be implemented if passed, it could have potentially devastating consequences for small business.  The bill has the potential to unfairly inflate business property values by:

1. Taxing the value of permits and licenses.  (Will the city get to decide what your liquor license is worth and add that to your property tax bill?)
   
2. Taxing the value of lease agreements.  This could give local governments the authority to count revenue that is already taxed as income toward your property tax bill. (How do you like that slippery slope?)

On the surface, this proposal appears to be about billboard advertising.  But, the consequences could be far reaching.  The goal of this proposal is to get around a State Supreme Court ruling that stopped the City of Madison from taxing income from outdoor advertising lease agreements. However, there is nothing in this proposal that would prevent cities from applying the same rules to other small business, like restaurants.

Small businesses cannot continue to be the "cash cow" for municipalities.