First payments come in for increased shared revenues

The Wisconsin Department of Revenue (DOR) has distributed the first round of increased payments to counties and municipalities, under the historic shared revenue legislation, signed by the governor in June 2023.

This distribution marks a significant milestone, as it includes the new supplemental county and municipal aid (CMA), established under 2023 Wisconsin Act 12, which is specifically allocated to support essential services, such as law enforcement, fire protection, emergency medical services, emergency response communications, public works, courts and transportation.

“After more than a decade of this funding being cut or held flat, it was long overdue for the state to do its part to meaningfully support local communities, and I’m thrilled these funds will be going out the door to help municipalities support essential community services like fire and EMS, fixing local roads, cleaning up PFAS and more,” said Gov. Tony Evers.

Townships seeing additional funding, along with the percentage increase, are Anson, $103,254, 204.1; Arthur, $90,199, 91.6; Birch Creek, $46,186, 498.7; Cleveland, $99,687, 82.4; Colburn, $73,332, 159.8; Delmar, $135,084, 53.6; Edson, $119,950, 70.4; Estella, $55,127, 223.2; Goetz, $95,870, 83.8; Lake Holcombe, $65,017, 262.3; Ruby, $58,954, 179.6; and Sigel, $95,009, 109.

Villages seeing additional funding, along with the percentage increase, are Boyd $257,762, 20; and Cadott, $292,991, 23.2.

Cities seeing additional funding, along with the percentage increase, is Cornell, $581,386, 20.

According to data from the non-partisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau (LFB), since 2011, state aid to communities had been cut by more than nine percent, while public safety costs increased by more than 16 percent. As a result, over the last decade, local communities had been asked to do more with less and forced to make difficult decisions to cut critical services, including public safety.

““While this historic increase to shared revenue is one of the most significant accomplishments of my administration, we know our work is not over,” said Evers. “We will continue working. to ensure that every community has the resources and support needed to respond to residents’ needs today, and to plan for tomorrow.”