October 2024: Counties Face Complex Budget Issues

The funding of county government in Wisconsin has been fairly constant for decades. Three primary sources of revenue — local property taxes, state aid, and an optional 0.5% sales tax — combine to generate about three-quarters of all county revenues.

One of the great challenges with this funding system is that counties have limited control over their revenues. State aids are set by the Legislature and governor every two years in the state budget. Since 2005, property taxes have been capped by levy limits. As a result, county revenues increased an average of 1.9% per year from 2005-2022, less than the average annual inflation rate of 2.4%.

Read the full October 2024 Wisconsin Counties article here.