Fiscal Facts

Tight constraints on state and local revenue paired with an unprecedented stream of federal aid have created a fiscal paradox for Wisconsin’s two largest school districts — bolstering their near-term finances while leaving the future deeply uncertain.

Weekly Fiscal Facts are provided to Wisconsin Newspaper Association members by the Wisconsin Policy Forum, the state’s leading resource for nonpartisan state and local government research

Passenger volumes on commercial flights in Wisconsin increased in 2021 after the freefall of a year earlier, but continued to trail pre-pandemic levels to a greater extent than the nation.

Employment in Wisconsin arts and cultural sectors has rebounded substantially from the COVID-19 pandemic, due in part to an unprecedented federal and state relief effort.

While unprecedented levels of federal pandemic relief have swept into Wisconsin since 2020, the combined aid to its state and local governments ranks in the bottom 10 states when measured as a share of annual spending.

Total state financial aid to college and university students in Wisconsin has lagged or declined in the last decade, leaving students to shoulder more of the cost of education – and undermining a tool to stem the state’s higher education enrollment declines and workforce challenges.

After the COVID-19 pandemic dramatically decreased traffic on Wisconsin’s roads, weekend traffic now has largely returned to near pre-pandemic levels. But weekday traffic, a much greater part of the total, remains at a lower level

At a time when many Wisconsin students need additional support, statewide summer school enrollment plunged in the early months of the pandemic and did not fully recover last summer.

Revenues from fees on transfers of real estate in Wisconsin increased 37% in fiscal year 2021, the largest annual increase in nearly four decades. This was driven by robust increases in real estate sales and residential property values during the COVID-19 pandemic.

As municipal public health agencies in Milwaukee County face evolving expectations and a generational test from a global pandemic, an assessment of future challenges suggests it may be appropriate to consider options to improve the structure for delivering these services.