Wisconsin Taxpayer Magazine
Wisconsin Taxpayer Magazine The Nation’s First, The State’s Largest
April 2012 • Vol. 2012 No. 4
Buy this IssueFree CopyDue to a combination of policy changes and economic growth, Wisconsin’s income tax per person has grown from $38 in 1960 to $1,260 in 2011. From 2001 through 2010, Wisconsin’s 6.6% increase in per capita income taxes was... Read More
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Wisconsin Taxpayer Magazine - March 2012 • Vol. 80 No. 3Wisconsin's Fiscal Health
Wisconsin's official financial statements, released each December by the state controller's office, provide telling information about state finances and fiscal health. The latest release shows Wisconsin with a general fund... Read More
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Wisconsin Taxpayer Magazine - February 2012 • Vol. 2012 No. 2The Sales Tax: Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow
First imposed in 1962 as part of a property tax relief effort, the Wisconsin sales tax is now state government’s second-largest source of tax revenue, trailing only the individual income tax. Although the tax evolved from a 3%... Read More
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Wisconsin Taxpayer Magazine - January 2012 • Vol. 2012 No. 1Moving To and From Wisconsin: Migration and the Badger State
Over the last 15 years, Wisconsin has shifted from a net gainer of people and income from migration to a net loser. Based on U.S. tax returns, the state lost as much as $8 billion from more people leaving than coming to the state during... Read More
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Wisconsin Taxpayer Magazine - December 2011 • Vol. 2011 No. 12Postrecession Snapshot: Total Taxes in 2011
Wisconsin state-local taxes claimed 11.9% of state personal income in fiscal year 2011, up from 11.7% the prior year and 11.3% in recession-plagued 2009. This year's increase was largely due to recent tax increases and to the... Read More
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Wisconsin Taxpayer Magazine - November 2011 • Vol. 2011 No. 11Wisconsin’s Most Puzzling Challenge: Demography
State political leaders devote considerable time and energy to discussing jobs, schools, state finances, and health care. All are pressing problems that are well known and understood. Ironically, Wisconsin faces another problem that is... Read More
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Wisconsin Taxpayer Magazine - October 2011 • Vol. 2011 No. 10Jobs: The Long Road to Recovery
Many households nationally and in Wisconsin are economically stressed. Unemployment during the recent recession topped 9%. And while the state’s unemployment rate has fallen to under 8%—the ninth best decline among the... Read More
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Wisconsin Taxpayer Magazine - September 2011 • Vol. 79 No. 9Home to Roost? The 2011-13 State Budget
This year’s state budget process was painful, the result of more than a decade of fiscal denial by governors and lawmakers of both parties. For years, the state “balanced” its budget in name only, eschewing long-term... Read More
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Wisconsin Taxpayer Magazine - August 2011 • Vol. 79 No. 8Wisconsin Transportation: 2011 and Beyond
Wisconsin transportation spending exceeds $3 billion annually. However, slow growth in transportation-related taxes and fees combined with transportation dollars being used for nontransportation purposes has led to greater reliance on... Read More
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Wisconsin Taxpayer Magazine - July 2011 • Vol. 79 No. 6_7Forgotten? Challenges Facing Rural Schools
More than one in five Wisconsin public school students attends a rural school. These schools face many challenges. Of Wisconsin's 220 rural districts, 182 (82.7%) had enrollment declines in 2000-10. Over half had declines of... Read More
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Wisconsin Taxpayer Magazine - May 2011 • Vol. 79 No. 5UW in the 21st Century: Less Money, More Freedom?
The University of Wisconsin System’s 2009-10 budget totalled $4.75 billion. Funding came primarily from state appropriations (24.0%) and tuition and fees (22.1%). Particularly since the 1990s, the state’s contribution to the... Read More
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Wisconsin Taxpayer Magazine - April 2011 • Vol. 79 No. 4A Slowdown in City and Village Spending
From 2002 through 2009, per capita revenues and expenditures for cities and villages rose less than 2.5% per year. Average increases were well below those for 1987-2002. Although many factors contributed to slowing revenue... Read More
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Wisconsin Taxpayer Magazine - March 2011 • Vol. 79 No. 3In Their Words: Wisconsin Supreme Court Candidates
Wisconsin voters face important decisions on April 5. They will elect local officials and also a new supreme court justice to serve until 2021. There were also contested supreme court races in 2007, 2008, and 2009. This year’s... Read More
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Wisconsin Taxpayer Magazine - February 2011 • Vol. 79 No. 2Wisconsin Medicaid Trends & Comparisons
Medicaid, or Medical Assistance (MA), provides health coverage to more than 60 million low-income individuals nationally. Through new programs and expanded eligibility, Wisconsin now has 1.2 million MA enrollees, 191% more than in 1998.... Read More
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Wisconsin Taxpayer Magazine - January 2011 • Vol. 79 No. 1School Administrators Wear Many Hats
Administrative costs in Wisconsin schools include the compensation of administrators and their support staff, school board costs, and other costs, other than compensation, associated with the administration of the district. These costs... Read More
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Wisconsin Taxpayer Magazine - December 2010 • Vol. 78 No. 12New Legislature . . . New Direction?
A new legislature takes office in January 2011 and immediately faces a fiscal crisis. Republicans deprived Democrats of their majorities in both houses of the state legislature while also winning the governor’s race. This is the... Read More
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Wisconsin Taxpayer Magazine - November 2010 • Vol. 78 No. 11Wisconsin’s Total Taxes: 2010
Wisconsin taxpayers sent $64.3 billion to federal, state, and local governments in 2010, up 2.6% from 2009. The combined tax burden claimed 30.4% of personal income. This year’s tax burden remained below the average of the last 10... Read More
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Wisconsin Taxpayer Magazine - October 2010 • Vol. 78 No. 10Electricity: Competitive Advantage Eroding?
Electricity brownouts almost occurred in the summers of both 1997 and 1998 in Wisconsin. In response, electric utilities built substantial generating capacity and also upgraded the state’s transmission infrastructure. Although the... Read More
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Wisconsin Taxpayer Magazine - September 2010 • Vol. 78 No. 9Wisconsin Jobs and Wages: A Wake-Up Call?
For most residents, Wisconsin’s economy means jobs and wages. Unfortunately, the state lags the nation in job growth, and average wages here trail national norms. Slow job growth is partly attributable to less firm... Read More
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Wisconsin Taxpayer Magazine - August 2010 • Vol. 78 No. 8How County Administration and Finances Stack Up
At the start of this year, 11 counties had a county executive, 21 had a county administrator, and 40 had an administrative coordinator. County board sizes ranged from seven to 38 members. Most recent (2008) finance figures show... Read More
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Wisconsin Taxpayer Magazine - June 2010 • Vol. 78 No. 6/7Challenges Facing State Voters in 2010
With primary elections on September 14 and the general set for November 2, voters have only a few months to learn more about candidates. Some of the issues voters may want to consider include the following: The incoming... Read More
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Wisconsin Taxpayer Magazine - May 2010 • Vol. 78 No. 5Wisconsin's Rising Public Sector Debt
State and local governments borrow for many purposes. Traditionally, borrowing was done primarily to fund infrastructure or construction projects. Recently, however, it has also been used to pay for unfunded liabilities. According to... Read More
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Wisconsin Taxpayer Magazine - April 2010 • Vol. 78 No. 4The Cost of Corrections: Wisconsin and Minnesota
In 1989, corrections was Wisconsin’s seventh-largest state general fund expenditure. Twenty years later, it was the state’s third-largest expenditure. Over those twenty years, corrections spending grew more than two and... Read More
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Wisconsin Taxpayer Magazine - March 2010 • Vol. 78 No. 3The Unemployment Reserve Fund
The Unemployment Reserve Fund is the depository from where benefit payments are made. In 2009, benefits totalled $1.96 billion, while unemployment taxes were $686 million. The balance of the Reserve Fund has declined each year since... Read More
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Wisconsin Taxpayer Magazine - February 2010 • Vol. 78 No. 2Wisconsin's Public Workforce
In 2008, state and local governments in Wisconsin employed 283,351 full-time equivalent (FTE) employees. At 50.35 FTE public employees per 1,000 state residents, Wisconsin’s public sector was 8.2% smaller than the national... Read More