Operating spending across all Wisconsin cities and villages climbed 4.4% per person in 2024, surpassing the rate of inflation thanks largely to a major increase in state aid to local governments, according to the Wisconsin Policy Forum's annual Municipal DataTool update, released September 11, 2026. The rise followed enactment of 2023 Wisconsin Act 12, which delivered the biggest shared revenue increase in decades—shared revenue being the state's primary form of general aid to cities, villages, towns, and counties. The tool tracks interactive data on government spending and services for all 607 Wisconsin municipalities, from the village of Yuba with 52 residents to the city of Milwaukee.
The spending jump touched all four major budget categories tracked by the Forum. General government expenditures rose 12.4%, street maintenance climbed 5.3%, fire and EMS increased 7.1%, and net police spending went up 5.6%—each exceeding the 2.9% inflation rate in 2024. These four categories, labeled collectively as basic spending, grew 7.0% in 2024 to reach $797 per capita, marking the largest annual increase in the past decade. Despite that surge, basic spending growth has trailed inflation over the longer haul: from 2015 to 2024, net basic spending rose 25.1% while inflation hit 29.6%. Fire and EMS spending grew 31.1% during that nine-year span, while general government spending jumped 36.6%. Street maintenance and police spending climbed more slowly, at 22.0% and 20.2% respectively.
Shared revenue aid to cities and villages jumped 19.3% to $901.5 million in 2024, a $146 million increase, after years of relatively flat funding. The average per capita shared revenue amount rose 18.3% to $204. Meanwhile, general obligation debt grew 5.0% in 2024 to $9.24 billion, the steepest proportional rise since 2020. However, debt as a share of the state limit dropped again to 31.6%, reflecting faster growth in property values used to calculate the cap—continuing a downward trend from the 2016 peak of 42.5%.
The report points to the substantial rise in fire and EMS spending over the past decade as a potential signal of the financial and staffing strains facing the state's emergency service providers, a topic the Wisconsin Policy Forum has examined in recent research. General government spending—covering legislative, legal, financial administration, and building operations—saw the steepest growth of any basic category since 2015, according to the Forum. The influx of state aid through Act 12 reversed years of stagnant shared revenue, enabling municipalities to boost spending across core services even as long-term spending growth had lagged behind inflation.
The data suggests Wisconsin cities and villages used the 2024 state aid windfall to address deferred needs and rising costs, particularly in emergency services and administrative functions. With debt levels continuing to fall as a percentage of the state cap, municipalities appear to have room to borrow if needed, even as total debt climbs in absolute terms. The question ahead is whether state aid will keep pace with municipal needs—or whether the 2024 jump represents a one-time correction after years of flat funding.