WAUPUN — The City of Waupun confirmed that the Municipal Government would be receiving a large amount of funding from the new shared revenue payments in the new Wisconsin State Budget this week.
When the state collects tax revenue, a portion of it is set aside and distributed to local municipalities to help fund local infrastructure projects. This is called the shared revenue program, and helps communities with small tax bases cover costs.
But over the years the shared revenue system has become convoluted and hard to account for.
Last March the Waupun City Council passed a resolution to the State to fix the “broken system of funding” to local municipalities. This resolution covered both shared revenue and Municipal Service Payments (MSP)
Following the resolution, District 18 State Senator Dan Feyen and District 53 State Assemblyman Michael Schraa, who both represent Waupun, attended an in-district listening session to give an update on their efforts with the state budget.
Now, the Wisconsin Legislature is preparing to pass the 2023-2025 Wisconsin State Budget. The budget is expected to be passed this week and signed by Governor Tony Evers next month, and will include a section revising the shared revenue model.
One issue that Waupun consistently faces is lacking the funding for many important projects. But Waupun was not alone in this, as the state has been shortchanging, at least in their view, municipalities across the state.
“I would always hear from my townships that they needed more shared revenue, for roads and such,” Schraa told WPN in a short interview.
Assemblyman Schraa described the process they had to go through to get the increased shared revenue into the budget, which for many cities and townships will be worth it.
“Every municipality across the board increased significantly, some 20-30%, some up to 700-1000% because they were getting such a small amount,” Schraa said.
Schraa emphasized the convoluted laws regarding Wisconsin’s shared revenue model, but explained that going forward it will be collected through state sales tax. One percent of Wisconsin sales tax will go into a separate fund for shared revenue distribution.
He also discussed some of the negotiations that went into passing the budget including issues with the City of Milwaukee, whose pension program was deep in the red. According to Schraa, the legislature was able to negotiate sections of the budget regarding shared revenue by allowing Milwaukee to increase their local sales tax to cover that program.
Schraa, who serves on the state corrections committee, also spoke about their efforts to tackle the staffing and security concerns at correctional institutions across the state, including improving conditions at Waupun Correctional Institution.
The City of Waupun sent out a press release Wednesday night on the additions to the state budget benefiting the community and the prisons.
“I’m very thankful to Senator Feyen, Representative Schraa, Speaker Vos, Leader LeMahieu, and of course Governor Evers for really coming through for Waupun,” Mayor of Waupun Rohn Bishop said in the press release. “We were on the verge of cutting basic services had we not gotten some revenue help, but with a $600,000 revenue boost, it gives us some breathing room.”
Also included in the budget was across-the-board increases to Correctional Officer salaries. An additional $13 was also added to the starting hourly wages for new hires.
“The prison staffing situation has reached a crisis, and is unsafe,” Mayor Bishop said. “Hopefully now that we’ll be paying the correctional staff what they’re worth, we’ll see a decrease in vacancies and Waupun Correctional can get back to full strength.”
Waupun is home to three state correctional facilities, including Waupun Correctional Institution, the first state prison in Wisconsin. WCI, originally known as the Wisconsin State Prison, is one of the longest continuously serving prisons in America. It currently serves as a maximum security penitentiary.
“Waupun is proud of our history with corrections, as our history museum recently unveiled a corrections themed exhibit titled, ‘If These Walls Could Talk,’” the press release said.
Information about the particulars of the state budget can be found on the state website here: https://doa.wi.gov/Pages/StateFinances/CurrentBiennialBudget.aspx
