7/12/11 – Wisconsin cities and villages have been spending less and borrowing more. The Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance issued a report Monday showing that the largest 238 municipalities reduced their spending by one-percent from 2008-to-’09. That’s the first such drop in over a decade. Meanwhile, cities and villages borrowed four-point-two percent more money over that period – the largest increase since 2005. Communities have had to deal with virtually no growth in state aid in recent years, plus state requirements to limit their property taxes. The Tax Alliance says those are two reasons they’re borrowing more and spreading out their bigger expenses. But the alliance says spending on police and other public safety items keep going up – and they’ve not been affected by the trend.
