Fiscal Facts

Local governments are responsible for maintaining local roads in Wisconsin, funded by a mix of state aids and local revenues.

Wisconsin has allowed municipalities to charge a local vehicle registration tax, or “wheel tax” since 1967, but only in recent years has it become popular.

Wisconsin’s long-term health is improving, but on all three commonly used long-term health measures, it is about average when compared to other states.

Short-term health deteriorated during 2002-09 and Wisconsin’s fiscal health was weak through 2010 as expenditures exceeded revenues in five of nine years.

Gains in Wisconsin’s short-term fiscal measures since the recession are a positive sign for state finances, but it still ranks in the bottom half of states.

In 2017, three measures of Wisconsin’s short-term fiscal health were at their highest levels since at least 2002.

Since 1995, Democrats have controlled the state Assembly once, during the 2009-10 session. Over the same span, state Senate control has shifted 8 times.

A look at Wisconsin legislators in 2017, including their average ages, educational and occupational backgrounds and their annual salaries.

Weekly Fiscal Facts are provided by the Wisconsin Policy Forum, the state’s leading resource for nonpartisan state and local government research and civic education. The Wisconsin Public

Wisconsin’s Declaration of Rights provides for freedom of speech and the rights to assemble and petition, the same as in the U.S. Constitution.