On August 1, Governor Evers announced the first payments to Wisconsin Counties and municipalities under 'historic' shared revenue increases. Read the full press release here.

The State of Wisconsin made an "historic" commitment to county and municipal governments in the last budget, ending decades of stagnant or declining revenues in Shared Revenue payments.  Now it is up to local governments to actually make history and address the problems the Legislature intended with the new funding.  Fortunately, lawmakers tipped the scale in our direction in a handful of important ways.

First, to receive the new funding. local service providers had to certify they are not reducing staff or funding for police, fire or EMS services.  (You probably recall the one-page form you had to complete in June certifying these numbers.)  Avoiding more funding cuts seems obvious to building up such services yet you might be surprised how many municipalities were considering such cuts.

Second, a big portion of the new Shared Revenue payments are specifically allocated to "support essential services such as law enforcement, fire protection, emergency medical services, emergency response communications, public works, courts, and transportation".   While this definition is beneficial, inclusion of "public works, courts, and transportation" was a significant discussion among lawmakers and will undoubtedly draw funds away from EMS, fire and police.  In some communities, the "historic" investment might be a new snowplow or section of road. 

And finally, a future challenge with the new funding that could directly affect PAAW members still awaits county and municipal governments.  Lawmakers created a $300 million Innovation Fund specifically targeting efforts to consolidate county and municipal services.  This includes EMS but it also includes everything else from library services to human resources.  As such, communities could apply for funding to combine or expand EMS services if a cost-savings is demonstrated.  This might open a door for some PAAW members to expand into new communities.  

The new Shared Revenue funding is a welcomed development for municipalities, but it comes with new challenges.  EMS is in the front of the money line but our situation is often more complicated than that one road project that has been waiting for funding for several years.  PAAW members already embedded in communities have an advantage to stabilize their delivery systems with the new funding.  If you are looking to expand, local leaders should be a little more susceptible to the numbers you are putting in front of them.