Courtesy of the Wisconsin Department of Transportation

WISCONSIN – Governor Tony Evers and the Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT) recently announced that local governments across the state received more than $160 million in the third quarterly payments for 2021 for General Transportation, Connecting Highway, and Expressway Policing Aids.

For calendar year 2020, local governments received more than $505 million in general transportation aids (GTA) financial assistance to support transportation related projects, a 10% increase over calendar year 2019 allocations.

Total funding for all local programs makes up almost one-third of the state transportation budget.

“Support for local governments transportation projects keeps goods and services moving throughout Wisconsin,” WisDOT Secretary-designee Craig Thompson said. “We are committed to investing wisely and working cooperatively to build good transportation solutions that support safety, economic development and our quality of life.”

The local assistance increase is part of more than $465 million in new funding for transportation projects included in the 2019-2020 state budget, the largest dedication of new, ongoing revenue to the transportation fund in a generation. In addition to the 10% GTA increase, the budget included $320 million in new funding for the State Highway Rehabilitation program and provided $90 million in one-time funding for the Local Roads Improvement Program-Supplement grant program.

The third quarter payments totaled $160,249,246.04 and included:

• General Transportation Aids – $156,977,396.84 to all local units of government
• Connecting Highway Aids – $3,015,874.20 to 116 eligible municipalities
• Expressway Policing Aids – $255,975.00 to Milwaukee County

General Transportation Aids help cover the costs of constructing, maintaining, and operating roads and streets under local jurisdiction.

Connecting Highway Aids reimburse municipalities for maintenance and traffic control of certain state highways within municipalities.

Quarterly payments for cities, towns and villages are sent the first Monday in January, April, July and October. County payments are made in three installments, with 25% of the total annual payment on the first Monday in January; 50% on the first Monday in July; and 25% on the first Monday in October.

Local transportation aid data

Municipality/County                 General Transportation                      Connecting 

Aids                                                                Highway Aids

Lincoln County                                  $609,390.98

City of Tomahawk                           $70,033.43                                                           $7,268.84

City of Merrill                                    $203,721.83                                                        $26,295.86

Town of Bradley                               $51,804.45

Town of Corning                              $63,748.71

Town of Harding                              $22,226.31

Town of Harrison                             $38,303.10

Town of King                                     $22,725.63

Town of Little Rice                          $30,281.13

Town of Lynne                                  $45,535.56

Town of Merrill                                  $43,848.18

Town of Nokomis                            $34,880.13

Town of Pine River                         $42,586.74

Town of Rock Falls                          $24,624.36

Town of Russell                                $24,640.86

Town of Schley                                   $34,824.00

Town of Scott                                    $36,719.73

Town of Skanawan                          $15,616.89

Town of Somo                                   $13,711.59

Town of Tomahawk                        $23,277.51

Town of Wilson                                $16,418.38

Data courtesy of WisDOT.