MADISON — Gov. Tony Evers, together with the Wisconsin Department of Revenue (DOR), published 2025 shared revenue estimates of over $1.5 billion. One of the most significant sources of funding provided by the state to local governments, Wisconsin’s shared revenue includes eight programs providing state aid to counties, municipalities, tax increment districts, schools, technical colleges, and special districts annually. “I’ve always believed that much of the hard work we do to serve our communities happens at the local level and that the state should be a partner, not an obstacle to, our local communities’ success,” said Gov. Evers. “I’m excited to see how the results of our historic shared revenue increases are going to help support communities and families across Wisconsin. We’re helping make sure our local communities can meet basic and unique needs alike, including investing in fire and emergency services, fixing local roads, expanding affordable housing and transportation, ensuring kids and families have clean and safe water and parks, supporting local public health and libraries—whatever those needs may be.” Gov. Evers has championed efforts to increase support for shared revenue since he first took office five years ago. As part of negotiations for the 2023-25 biennial budget, Gov. Evers was proud to work with Republican leadership to deliver on his promise to increase funding for local communities across the state. Thanks to these conversations, in 2023, Gov. Evers signed 2023 Wisconsin Act 12, which provided a generational increase in the state’s commitment to local communities and tied local government funding to the state sales tax going forward, allowing for future growth. Counties and municipalities are set to see the realized benefits of the county and municipal aid and supplemental county and municipal aid (SCMA) being adjusted based on sales tax revenues next year, with an expected increase of $23.6 million to help invest in local community needs and priorities. These state aids are mostly general, unrestricted aids that can be used for any activity approved by the local governing body. Specifically, SCMA is the only restricted aid that must be used for specific purposes such as law enforcement, fire protection, emergency medical services, emergency response communications, public works, courts, and transportation—no SCMA amounts may be used for administrative services.
