Fiscal Facts

The surprise blow of COVID-19 has hammered key state transportation revenues in Wisconsin, leaving them short of projections for the current two-year budget cycle and raising questions about whether they will fully rebound after the pandemic.

A recent state report shows that from 2020 to 2022, Wisconsin’s general fund is projected to receive at least $70 million less than originally expected from gaming revenues collected from the state’s 11 federally recognized tribes.

In recent decades, the distribution of spending between state and local government in Wisconsin has undergone a slow but profound shift, with the gap between the local and state shares nearly erased.

As a pandemic and economic turmoil underscore the value of critical local government services, Wisconsin ranks 15th among the states in local government spending, but 3.6% below the per capita national average.

For the first time on record, Wisconsin’s main fund closed the year with a small positive balance, wiping out the longstanding financial gap that was often referred to as its “hidden deficit.”

For the ninth straight year in 2020, Wisconsin’s tax burden — state and local taxes paid by Wisconsin residents and businesses as a share of income — declined, reaching its lowest point in at least a half-century.

Continuing a year-end tradition launched by one of its predecessor organizations more than a decade ago, the Wisconsin Policy Forum announces its top five research findings for 2020.

With fire and emergency medical services (EMS) departments in the La Crosse region facing a host of challenges, collaborative action by local providers could improve service levels at a lower cost than acting independently.

The University of Wisconsin System and its flagship university are falling behind their peers in key financial metrics, as a tuition freeze, declining enrollment, stagnant state funding, and lackluster growth in research spending threaten their long-term competitiveness.

Amid a pandemic and global recession, school districts are increasing property taxes for the coming year by 3.3% — lower than last year’s 4.5% but still the second-highest percentage since 2010.