March 2006 Mailbox: Comparative Finance Data

A good book has to tell a good story and this year’s edition of “County and Municipal Revenues and Expenditures” does just that. Published last month by the Department of Revenue (DOR), it details the very different financial lives led by the three branches of Wisconsin’s municipal government family: cities, villages and towns. Using numbers rather than words it recounts their revenues, expenditures and outstanding indebtedness in 2004. Here is a Cliff-Notes version of their story.

*Table 1: 2004 Municipal Revenues, Expenditures & Debt
	Cities	Villages	Towns	Total
2004 Population	3,072,334	782,161	1,678,460	5,532,955
Revenues ($000)
General Property Taxes	1,259,009	295,801	298,621	1,853,431
Other Taxes	258,779	80,948	10,749	350,476
Total Taxes	1,517,788	376,749	309,370	2,203,907
Federal Aids	106,056	8,637	4,804	119,497
State Shared Revenues	633,081	77,961	63,432	774,474
State Highway Aids	159,715	39,072	123,433	322,220
Other Aids	158,250	28,478	32,033	218,761
Total Intergovernmental Aids	1,057,102	154,148	223,703	1,434,953
Total Other Revenues	667,074	146,526	113,142	926,742
Total General Revenues	3,241,964	677,423	646,215	4,565,602
Expenditures & Debt ($000)
General Government	387,363	93,993	105,090	586,446
Public Safety	1,228,838	209,638	130,568	1,569,044
Public Works	833,475	232,633	349,213	1,415,321
Other Expenditures	1,425,114	289,308	100,072	1,814,492
Total General Expenditures	3,874,790	825,572	684,943	5,385,305
General Obligation Debt	3,474,780	1,052,712	301,642	4,829,134
Source: DOR Bulletin No. 104; “County and Municipal Revenues and Expenditures: 2004”; available online at http://www.dor.state.wi.us

*Revenues do not include proceeds of long-term debt, refunding bonds, inter-fund transfers or sale of major general fixed assets

**Expenditures do not include interfund transfers and certain refunding and tax payments

So, what’s the story? All three chapters -- revenue, expenditure and debt – tell the same story: Wisconsin’s towns are remarkably frugal. That’s not to say cities and villages don’t serve their residents well, but as the following tables show, town taxpayers enjoy basic municipal services at a fraction of the cost paid by their city and village cousins.

While cities, villages and towns are far from comparable in all respects, these figures allow useful general comparisons. The per capita and percentage distribution figures in Tables 2 and 3 tell a story of sometimes dramatic differences in revenues, expenditures and indebtedness. For example, Table 2 shows that total taxes in towns were less than half the level collected in cities and villages ($184 in towns vs. $494 in cities and $487 in villages) when measured in per capita terms. Table 3 shows that while towns comprise 30% of the state’s population, they levied only 14% of municipal taxes and received only 16% of intergovernmental aids. It also shows that per capita indebtedness is more than six times higher in cities than in towns. Is it any wonder that town residents place such a high value on their town government heritage?

Table 2: Per Capita 2004 Municipal Revenues, Expenditures & Debt
	Cities	Villages	Towns	Average
Revenues ($ Per Resident)
Total Taxes	494	482	184	398
Intergovernmental Aids	344	197	133	259
Other Revenues	217	187	67	167
Total General Revenues	1,055	866	384	824
Expenditures & Debt ($ Per Resident)
General Government	126	120	63	106
Public Safety	400	268	78	284
Public Works	271	297	208	256
Other Expenditures	464	370	60	328
Total General Expenditures	1,261	1,155	409	974
General Obligation Debt	1,131	1,346	180	873

Table 3: % Distribution of 2004 Municipal Revenues, Expenditures & Debt
	Cities	Villages	Towns	Total*
2004 Population	56%	14%	30%	100%
Revenues (% of City, Village & Town Total)
Total Taxes	69	17	14	100
Intergovernmental Aids	74	11	16	100
Other Revenues	72	16	12	100
Total General Revenues	71	15	14	100
Expenditures & Debt (% of City, Village & Town Total)
General Government	66	16	18	100
Public Safety	78	13	8	100
Public Works	59	16	25	100
Other Expenditures	79	16	6	100
Total General Expenditures	72	15	13	100
General Obligation Debt	72	22	6	100