Home Departments Village Manager Local Government Funding Reform 

On February 6, 2023, the Greendale Village Board adopted a resolution urging the State Legistature and Governor to fix the broken system of funding critical local services in Wisconsin. The state's system for fuding vital local services like police, fire protection, EMS, well-maintained streets, parks and libraries is broken, unsustainable, and needs to be reformed. Communities like the Village of Greendale are foced to relay on property taxes and flat or declining state aid to pay for critical local services that residents and businesses need.

Over the last 20 years, state aid for police, fire, and other critical services has steadily declined in
real dollars, while inflation has caused average prices to increase by 51 percent. (The funding level for County and Municipal Aid in 2003 was $938,529,507. Today, it is $753,032,613). State Shared Revenues to the Village of Greendale have decreased -21% since 2001, from $760,083 in 2001 to $560,064 in 2021. Over this period, the Village's total expenditures have increased 97%. Greendale has become more reliant on debt financing to pay for capital infrastructure improvements and equipment.

Greendale's Village Manager and Village President are actively meeting with State and County representatives to advocate for reliable, growing, sustainable and diverse sources of revenue to continue to deliver police, fire protection, ambulance services and safe streets now and into the future.

References:

• Presentation: Greendale's Budget Story and the Need for Sustainable Funding for Local Governments in Wisconsin (2/6/23)
• Resolution 2023-01 - Urging Legislature and Governor to Fix Broken System of Funding Critical Local Services
• 2023 Village Budget