March 23, 2026 – Hartford, Wi – The Hartford Common Council meets Tuesday, March 24, 2026, and it will be discussing possibly placing a referendum on the August 2026 ballot for taxpayers to vote to exceed the levy limit. No amount of increase is listed on the agenda. Also not listed is whether this is a one year increase to exceed the levy or a permanent increase.
According to the agenda, “Since August of 2025, we have discussed the financial issues facing the City with operational cost outpacing non-tax revenues and the inability of the City to increase taxes to fill this gap. At that time, we discussed temporarily filling the $680K 2026 budget gap with pent up fund balancе from insurance. We knew at that time, this was merely a temporary solution to get us into 2026. Now, we need to address the bigger issue facing the City as to how to permanently fix this issue moving forward by resetting our levy through the means of a referendum request to exceed the state mandated limit.”
In 2025 the Hartford common council voted to raise taxes by about a penny. Neighbors in the community felt a bit more of a sting from the Hartford Union High School, the Joint 1 School District, and Moraine Park Technical College. One homeowner said his taxes went up an unexpected $400.
Click HERE for a list of council members and their contact information.
The full agenda item is below.
Hartford levy referendum 3-2026Click arrow in lower left corner to advance the page. There are 3 pages.
Tuesday’s meeting begins at 7 p.m. in the council chambers at Hartford City Hall. The meeting is free and open to the public.
This is a working story and more information will be posted when details are available.
Unrealistic growth has its limitations.