Fiscal Facts

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.

After a decade of modest increases, property taxes in Wisconsin have risen more rapidly over the past two years. Factors contributing to the growth include voter-approved school referenda, increases in state revenue limits on schools, and greater levies by municipalities and counties to make debt payments.

In a state where most higher education institutions are struggling to address financial and enrollment challenges, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee faces some of the greatest difficulties of all.

The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee lags in key revenues compared to peer urban research universities, as a decade of enrollment decline has exacerbated the effects of an eight-year tuition freeze and state funding that has not kept pace with inflation.

The number of students completing bachelor’s and advanced degrees in health science fields at southeast Wisconsin colleges and universities rose considerably in the last decade, providing much-needed talent to one of the largest, fastest-growing sectors of the region’s economy.

Sales and use tax revenues in Wisconsin increased markedly in the first four months of 2021 when compared to the same period in 2019, another sign that economic activity is rebounding strongly from the COVID-19 crisis. Yet this revenue growth also shows notable shifts in key sectors that could have potential impacts on state and local finances.

Projections for state tax collections have been revised upward by an unprecedented $4.4 billion through June 2023, positioning state reserves to reach historic levels and giving Wisconsin a once-in-a-generation chance to address some of its most longstanding challenges.