Wisconsin’s cities and villages increased their basic forms of spending in 2022 by the most in at least a decade, but the increase significantly lagged that year’s rate of inflation.

Recent infusions of federal pandemic aid also likely have played a key role in bolstering the fiscal health of Wisconsin cities and villages. Their reserves saw their second-largest increase in a decade in 2022, while their main form of debt grew by the smallest amount since 2014.

These are among the findings from the Wisconsin Policy Forum’s interactive 2024 Municipal DataTool, or MuniTool. The tool provides interactive data on municipal government spending and services for all 604 cities and villages in Wisconsin – from the village of Yuba (population 53) to the city of Milwaukee. Data are grouped into the following areas: property taxes, municipal spending, debt, fund balances, shared revenue (a key form of state aid) and property values, and income and population. The latest 10 years of data are provided.

Across Wisconsin municipalities, net basic spending increased on a per capita basis from $693 in 2021 to $719 in 2022. After increases of less than 1% during the previous two years, this 3.8% rise is notable because it is the largest annual increase in this category in at least the last decade. However, it still trailed that year’s 8% increase in inflation.

About half of the increase in net basic spending came from a 12.9% increase in per capita general government spending – the second-largest such increase in the last decade. The three other components of net basic spending – street maintenance, fire and emergency medical services (EMS), and police – also increased in 2022, albeit much more modestly.

Average municipal fund balances rose from $927 per capita in 2021 to $1,004 per capita in 2022, an 8.4% increase that was the second-largest in the last decade. In 2022, fund balances rose to 90.3% of annual net operating spending, the highest point in the last decade.

The impact of federal pandemic aid on municipal fiscal health may also have affected general obligation (G.O.) debt levels, since municipalities could opt not to borrow but to instead use these federal dollars on capital expenses. Per capita G.O. debt rose by only 2.1% in 2022 - the smallest increase since 2014 – and G.O. debt as a percentage of the state-allowed limit plummeted to 35.2%, the lowest level in at least a decade.

Looking back over the past decade, property tax levies across all Wisconsin municipalities rose from $542 on a per capita basis in 2014 to $687 in 2023. That 26.7% increase was slightly below the 28.7% rate of inflation over the same time period.

The two primary sources of municipal revenue in Wisconsin – property taxes and state aid – have grown more slowly than inflation over the last decade, with a corresponding impact on spending. From 2013 to 2022, net operating spending per capita rose by 22.1%, while annual average inflation rose by 25.6%. Net police spending per capita rose by only 9.0% during this period. Net fire and EMS spending per capita rose by 15.9%, and street maintenance spending per capita rose by 6.5%.