In "The Great Property Value Shift," WISTAX researchers noted that the residential share of the property tax burden grew from 39.7% of the total in 1945 to 72.5% last year. Several factors explain the shift. The most important was demographic—increased demand for residential properties (both single-family and vacation homes) sparked by baby boomers. As that generation matured and moved into their prime buying years, additional demand for commercial properties also resulted.

A second factor in the tax burden shift was law changes that removed certain properties from the tax rolls or reduced their value for property tax purposes. During the 1970s, manufacturing machinery and equipment (M&E) and several types of personal property, including "Line A" stocks, were removed from the property tax rolls. This shifted some of the property tax burden onto residential and commercial properties. However, a larger shift occurred in the late 1990s when law changes allowed agricultural property to be assessed at its use, rather than market, value. WISTAX President Todd Berry noted that "it is important for Wisconsin property taxpayers to understand that the long-term shift of the property tax burden toward residential and commercial properties has been due mostly to residential construction and rising home prices. Only a small portion of the shift was due to legislative action."

The WISTAX report also notes that the long-term boom in residential real estate may be over. Between 1990 and 2000, the number of Wisconsin residents between the ages of 25 and 54—the prime home-buying years—rose from 1.8 million to 2.4 million. That number is projected to decline to 2.3 million by 2010, and will not reach 2.4 million again until 2030.