Fiscal Facts

Statewide public school enrollment in Wisconsin declined for the tenth straight year in 2023-24, with the nearly 9,000-student decline representing the second biggest one-year drop in the last decade.

At the height of the pandemic, Wisconsin saw a surge of increased participation in a range of outdoor pursuits. And even as the pandemic receded, by 2023, Wisconsinites still were exceeding pre-pandemic rates of participation in pastimes such as fishing and visiting state parks.

Next week, voters will decide whether to limit the authority of Wisconsin governors to spend federal funds and give greater authority over them to the Legislature. The changes could affect how the state spends billions of dollars in federal aid each year for roads, the environment, health care, and emergency and disaster response.

Wisconsin’s cities and villages increased their basic forms of spending in 2022 by the most in at least a decade, but the increase significantly lagged that year’s rate of inflation.

As the nation emerged from the pandemic, a surge in purchasing and economic activity fueled strong growth in Wisconsin’s sales tax revenues.

As housing has become increasingly unaffordable in Wisconsin and nationally since 2021, our state has issued more permits for housing construction. But the pace has declined slightly over the last two years and still lags far behind the housing boom years of the early 2000s.

Though the high unemployment that accompanied the COVID-19 pandemic has subsided, the number of people receiving FoodShare benefits in Wisconsin has not yet returned to 2019 levels.

Its upcoming budget finds Madison Metropolitan School District (MMSD) at a fiscal crossroads, with district leaders facing a projected shortfall of $39 million — and asking voters to approve two property tax referenda that are unprecedented in size and scope in district history.

The durability of changes to travel patterns during and after the COVID-19 pandemic have left the city of Milwaukee’s transportation fund at a crossroads, a new Wisconsin Policy Forum report finds.

Revenue from the state tax on telephone company property sank last year to its lowest level since the 1970s, a reflection of tax changes and a shifting telecommunications landscape. A newly adopted state law will nearly eliminate the tax, which is collected in lieu of local property taxes on telephone companies.