Tuesday, July 8, 2008

WTA: State–local debt service 10th highest in U.S.

Wisconsin state and local governments devoted a larger share of state personal income to debt service in 2006 than all but nine other states, according to policy researchers at the nonpartisan Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance.

Drawing on new U.S. Census figures, the WTA noted that the Badger State has traditionally been a low debt state. In 1960, it ranked 45th on debt service; as recently as 2000, the state ranked 21st.

When state and local debt service were examined separately, the WTA found that state government ranked 13th in the amount of personal income spent on debt service (0.53 percent vs. the U.S. average of 0.37 percent), while all local governments combined ranked 21st (0.4 percent of income), almost 14 percent below the national norm of 0.47 percent.

“This is somewhat surprising,” says WTA President Todd A. Berry. “State government here accounted for 57 percent of debt service, even though it did only 42 percent of all spending.”

In a parallel analysis of Wisconsin debt levels, the WTA found that state government had the most debt per person in 2006 ($1,619), followed by cities ($1,439) and villages ($1,231). With fewer capital needs, counties and towns lagged. Schools reported $960 per capita of debt in 2006–07, or $6,002 per student.

Debt per student varied considerably by school district in 2006–07. Two union high districts — Wilmot ($35,773) and Northland Pines ($27,769) — had the most debt. Of the 369 K–12 districts, Monona Grove ($22,534) led. Overall, 10 districts had debt of $20,000 or more, and another 15 fell between the $15,000 to $20,000 range. Of all 426 districts, 60 percent (254) reported per-student debt between $2,500 and $10,000. Five districts had no debt: Boscobel, Dover #1 (K–8), Gilmanton, Washington (Island), and White Lake.


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