Fire and emergency medical services (EMS) responders in Walworth County face challenges with staffing their agencies and funding their capital needs. Meanwhile, some of the county’s smaller departments continue to rely on a volunteer model that has become increasingly difficult to sustain.
Madison’s proposed budget for 2026 highlights the city’s recent financial turnaround, as it would increase staffing and service levels while limiting the city’s property tax increase to roughly the rate of inflation.
Milwaukee County’s proposed 2026 budget avoids position cuts and service reductions in most departments, but it also shows significant cracks in the county’s recent budget stability.
Milwaukee’s 2026 budget proposal shows how far the city has come since 2022, when the Forum warned that soaring pension costs and a daunting array of fiscal challenges threatened to force “untenable budget cuts” unless prompt action was taken.
The rate at which Wisconsin public school teachers left their districts has declined since its pandemic peak but remained elevated in the 2024-25 school year.
After spiking during the pandemic, the rate of alcohol-induced deaths has declined in Wisconsin and nationally. Still, rates of such deaths remain significantly elevated from pre-pandemic years, particularly in Wisconsin.
Gross property tax levies across Wisconsin increased 4.2% in 2024, the second largest increase since 2009.
The overall quality of bridges in Wisconsin exceeds the national average, with a higher percentage of bridges rated in good condition.
Student assessment scores have not yet recovered from their decline during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Wisconsin Policy Forum’s newly updated School DataTool shows.
Total operating spending across all Wisconsin cities and villages increased sharply in 2023 after a period of high inflation, the Wisconsin Policy Forum’s 2025 Municipal DataTool shows.