MADISON, WI (WTAQ) - The governor’s office said Monday morning that Wisconsin’s local property taxes went down last year.

Republican Scott Walker said taxes on a median-valued home dropped by 0.4 percent – the first such decline in 12 years.

Walker issued a statement crediting his budget cuts and the virtual end of public union bargaining for an average drop of $11 in local property taxes over the past year – from $2,963 to $2,952. And without the reforms, Walker said local taxes would have skyrocketed by $347 per homeowner last year.

Walker spokesman Cullen Werwie expected a document from the Legislative Fiscal Bureau Monday to back up those numbers.

The GOP reforms triggered a recall election against the governor this spring.

One of the five Democratic candidates, Tom Barrett, announced Monday what he called a “tax fairness plan” ending tax breaks to business, and restoring credits for seniors and the working poor.