Fiscal Facts

State aid to local governments has stagnated over time, which has increased the reliance of local governments on the property tax.

In 1911, Wisconsin officials created the first state income tax in the country and developed a template for financing state and local services in the state.

English Learners’ performance on two of three key indicators of future success (third-grade reading, and eighth-grade math) may be cause for alarm.

The largest school districts in Wisconsin also have the most English Learners, but the proportion of total students that are ELs varies widely by district.

The state only provides additional funding to a relatively small number of districts that are legally required to offer specialized bilingual-bicultural programming.

In the 2018-19 school year, over 350 of Wisconsin’s 421 school districts reported serving at least one English Learner (EL).

Once the governor’s budget bill is introduced in the Legislature, it goes to a single legislative committee, the Joint Committee on Finance for action.

In addition to state general purpose revenues, two more important elements of Wisconsin’s state budget are federal revenue and segregated funds.

Often, when Wisconsin lawmakers and the governor talk about “the budget,” they are really referring to the general fund budget.

Wisconsin’s state budget encompasses two fiscal years, or a biennium, such as from 2017-19 (the current budget) or 2019-21 (the next one).