Wisconsin Posts Record Budget Surplus For 2022 Fiscal Year End

WISCONSIN — At the end of Wisconsin's 2022 fiscal year, the state marked a nearly $4.3 billion surplus in its general fund, according to a report released Friday by the Department of Administration.

The state also recorded a "historic" $1.7 billion balance in its "rainy day" fund, the report said, marking a combined $6 billion that the State of Wisconsin managed to hang onto by fiscal year-end, which was June 30. At the beginning of the fiscal year, the general fund balance was at a surplus of $2.5 billion.

Altogether, the state spent around $18 billion in general purpose revenue, according to the DOA report. Notably, 2022 is the 13th year in a row that the top two general purpose revenue expenditures were K-12 school aids and medical assistance.

General purpose revenue spending increased by 0.4 percent, or $80.5 million. Last year spending had increased by $948 million, according to the DOA report.

Wisconsin put 36.7 percent of its 2022 general purpose revenue spending toward school aid. Sixteen percent went to medical assistance, 7.5 percent went to state property tax relief, 7.5 percent went to correctional services and 6.6 percent went to the UW System.

General purpose revenue tax collection increased by 5 percent over the last fiscal year, the report said. In 2022, revenue was $20.548 billion compared to 2021's $19.573 billion.

Amid the news, Gov. Tony Evers, a Democrat, proposed a plan to spend the surplus.

"We should be using our state’s historic surplus to cut taxes, invest in our schools, cap the cost of insulin, lower prices at the pump, and make childcare and caregiving more affordable so we can get more folks into our workforce," Evers said in a news release.

Patch reached out to Tim Michels with questions about the surplus. Michels, a Republican, is running against Evers in the Nov. 8 election. This story will be updated if we hear back.

Here are some other facts from the 2022 Wisconsin fiscal year-end report:

• The state collected over $482 million in cigarette excise taxes, a 5.4 percent decrease over 2021.
• Tobacco product tax collection increased by 1.8 percent in 2022. Meanwhile, taxes collected on vapor products increased from $1.6 million in 2021 to $4.1 million in 2022.
• Liquor and wine tax collections went up by 0.5 percent for a total of $3.9 million collected in 2022. Beer tax collections, however, went down by 3.3 percent. The state collected $8.9 million in beer tax in 2022.
• Collections on real estate transfer fees increased by 14.4 percent in fiscal year 2022, up from $106 million in 2021 to $121 million.