Fiscal Facts

State and local taxes fell once again as a share of Wisconsinites’ incomes in 2024, pushing this ratio — known as the state and local tax burden — to its lowest level since at least 1970. 

As consumers turn more heavily to online purchases, cardboard recycling has more than doubled in Wisconsin since 2013, while other paper recycling has dropped by 36%. 

Wisconsin policymakers are nearing a crossroads on how to fund the state’s transportation system, as transportation revenues lag, project costs sharply increase, and a growing reliance on the state’s general fund may prove unsustainable.

The total number of Milwaukee Police Department arrests, traffic stops, and contacts with citizens dropped precipitously in recent years, raising questions about the impact of these trends on public safety and police-community relations.

Gross K-12 property taxes in Wisconsin are expected to rise by the largest amount since 2009, spurred both by per pupil revenue limit increases and a historic number of approved school district referenda.

Heading into the 2025-27 state budget, Wisconsin retains impressive reserves that put the state in a strong fiscal position. But at the same time, after soaring to previously unseen heights two years ago, Wisconsin’s budget has predictably returned much closer to earth.

The ratio of state and local taxes that Wisconsinites paid as a share of their personal income fell to the lowest levels on record in 2022.

A record number of school district referenda went before voters across Wisconsin in 2024, who responded by approving them in record numbers.

Metro Milwaukee ranked last among 11 comparison metro areas in 2023 in one key metric of economic dynamism, venture capital investment, and it lags most peer metros in business creation.

Despite a decline from the previous year, rates of chronic absenteeism for Wisconsin’s students in 2023 remained at historically high levels for children of every race, grade level, and socioeconomic status.