The city of Madison has entered the dead heat of budget season, as Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway and members of the city council debate her proposed 2021 Operating and Capital budgets. This year has proven an exceptionally difficult one for the city to navigate — as the COVID-19 pandemic has mired the budgeting process in economic […]
Madison’s cost to service state facilities is growing, as state ...
The cost Wisconsin’s cities incur from maintaining and serving state facilities have steadily climbed since the mid-1980s. But, for the past ten years, reimbursements on those costs from the state government have remained the same, according to a new report from the Wisconsin Policy Forum. The result is an ever-increasing financial burden on cities, forcing […]
Public Schools Face Uncertain Budget Future
Wisconsin state government got some good fiscal news when the nonpartisan legislative fiscal Bureau reported on August 31st that tax revenues were still relatively high this year, despite the COVID-19 pandemic. That makes it less likely that the legislature will have to enact a budget repair bill for the current year. While the 2020 budget […]
“An existential threat:” how COVID-19 has affected Wiscons...
Since the beginning of the pandemic, theaters, galleries and museums have indefinitely closed their doors. As these centers of arts and culture begin to reopen, we’re just now beginning to get a detailed look at how COVID-19 has impacted Wisconsin’s cultural institutions. For a by-the-numbers breakdown of how Wisconsin’s arts and artists have been impacted […]
Unpacking How Much Wisconsin Spends on its Police
Since 2015, the Madison Police Department’s Operating Budget has grown by nearly thirty percent, according to a report recently published by the Wisconsin Policy Forum. The report takes a look at overall spending trends on the state’s police forces since 1987. Earlier today, WORT Producer Jonah Chester spoke with Ari Brown, a researcher with the […]
MMSD preparing for turbulent financial year
COVID-19 has forced schools throughout the state to haphazardly adjust their budgets to account for unforeseen operations costs. Now, while still tangling with the uncertainty the future holds, the Madison School District has released its 2020-21 draft budget. Last week, WORT producer Jonah Chester spoke with Jason Stein, research director for the Wisconsin Policy Forum. […]
