MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The Wisconsin state budget ended the last fiscal year with a $517 million surplus. That is about $207 million less than projected when the Legislature passed the budget last year. It’s not immediately clear how the new figure released Wednesday by Gov. Scott Walker’s administration will affect the closing balance for the budget when it ends in June. The Legislative Fiscal Bureau reported last month that the budget is projected to be nearly $396 million short by the end of June, but that number will change based on actual tax collections and expenditures. The Legislature will have to take emergency action to balance the budget if revenues don’t increase enough to make up the shortfall. The state also faces a projected $1.8 billion shortfall in the next two-year budget.
