Fiscal Facts

An unprecedented infusion of federal pandemic aid should provide substantial but temporary relief for the city of Milwaukee’s budget imbalance for the next three years, starting with its 2022 budget.

Cost is a chief obstacle for small businesses to using technology, as are a lack of access to training, capital and cultural recognition, according to Milwaukee small business owners surveyed and interviewed for a new Wisconsin Policy Forum report.

The percentage of Wisconsin high school seniors completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) plummeted during the pandemic, which likely signals a concerning trend for college enrollment.

The COVID-19 pandemic has created unprecedented challenges for restaurants and bars in Wisconsin. Due in part to support provided through federal relief funds, employment in this industry has recovered considerably since nosediving by nearly 50% in April 2020.

State excise tax revenues from the sale of alcoholic beverages rose nearly 17% in the 2021 fiscal year, an annual increase that tops any seen in nearly five decades in Wisconsin.

Total equalized property values in Wisconsin increased 6.8% in 2021, the largest one-year increase since 2006. The increase was buoyed by residential property values, which also saw their largest increase in that span. Residential property values statewide grew 7.8% in 2021, the biggest annual percentage increase since 2006.

In reviewing municipal spending, the Wisconsin Policy Forum found communities throughout the state have reduced police spending or staffing for reasons that may have had more to do with their finances than calls for reform.

Education degrees earned at colleges and universities in southeastern Wisconsin declined from 2011 to 2019, raising the question of whether there is a sufficient supply of new K-12 teachers to meet the region’s teacher workforce needs.

At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, a historic drop in Wisconsin public school enrollment in the 2020-21 school year was accompanied by a smaller but still notable decline in private school enrollment, with both concentrated at the lowest grade levels. Meanwhile, homeschool and virtual charter school enrollment rose substantially.

Municipalities throughout Wisconsin saw significant increases in debt in 2019, though property values — which help determine municipal borrowing levels — grew at an even greater rate.