Definitions and abbreviations
Wis. Stat. § 20.001
in effectIn this chapter terms and abbreviations have the following meanings:
(1) State agency. “State agency” means any office, department or independent agency in the executive branch of Wisconsin state government, the legislature and the courts.
(2) Revenue types.
(a) General purpose revenues. “General purpose revenues” consist of general taxes, miscellaneous receipts and revenues collected by state agencies which are paid into a specific fund, lose their identity, and are then available for appropriation by the legislature. In this chapter, “general purpose revenues” refers to general purpose revenues in the general fund. General purpose revenues are identified by the abbreviation “GPR” in s. 20.005. They shall be deposited pursuant to s. 20.906.
(b) Program revenues. “Program revenues” consist of revenues which are paid into the general fund and are credited by law to an appropriation to finance a specified program or state agency. In this chapter, “program revenues” refers to program revenues in the general fund. Program revenues are identified by the abbreviation “PR” in s. 20.005. For any program revenue appropriation which is limited to the amounts in the schedule, no expenditures may be made exceeding the amounts in the schedule, except as provided in ss. 13.101 and 16.515, regardless of the amounts credited to that appropriation account. They shall be deposited pursuant to s. 20.906. Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, program revenues shall be used to reimburse the general fund for payments transferred under the appropriations made in s. 20.865 for the purposes of program revenue appropriations.
(c) Program revenues — service. “Program revenues — service”, indicated by the abbreviation “PR-S” in s. 20.005, consist of appropriated moneys in the general fund derived from any revenue source that are transferred between or within state agencies or miscellaneous appropriations. These moneys are shown as expenditures in the appropriation of the state agency or program from which the moneys are transferred and are also shown as program revenue in the appropriation of the agency or program to which the moneys are transferred. For any program revenue — service appropriation which is limited to the amounts in the schedule, no expenditure may be made exceeding the amounts in the schedule, except as provided in ss. 13.101 and 16.515, regardless of the amounts credited to the account from which the appropriation is made.
(d) Segregated fund revenues. “Segregated fund revenues”, indicated by the abbreviation “SEG” in s. 20.005 consist of revenues which, by law, are deposited into funds other than the general fund and are available for the purposes for which such funds are created. They shall be deposited pursuant to s. 20.906. Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter segregated revenues shall be used to reimburse the appropriate funds for payments transferred under the appropriations made in s. 20.865 for the purposes of segregated revenue appropriations.
(da) Segregated fund revenues — service. “Segregated fund revenues — service”, indicated by the abbreviation “SEG-S” in s. 20.005, consist of appropriated moneys in a segregated fund derived from any revenue source that are transferred between or within state agencies or miscellaneous appropriations. These moneys are shown as expenditures in the appropriation of the state agency or program from which the moneys are transferred and also shown as segregated fund revenue in the appropriation of the agency or program to which the moneys are transferred.
(dm) Segregated fund revenues — local. “Segregated fund revenues — local”, indicated by the abbreviation “SEG-L” in s. 20.005, consist of revenues which are received from a local unit of government or other source for transportation purposes and are deposited in the transportation fund under s. 25.40 (1) (e).
(e) Federal revenues. “Federal revenues” consist of moneys received from the federal government, except that under s. 20.437 (2) (md) “federal revenues” also include moneys treated as refunds of expenditures, and under s. 20.437 (2) (me) “federal revenues” consist only of moneys treated as received from the federal government. Federal revenues may be deposited as program revenues in the general fund or as segregated revenues in a segregated fund. In either case they are indicated in s. 20.005 by the addition of “-F” after the abbreviation assigned under pars. (b) and (d).
(f) Bond revenues. “Bond revenues”, indicated by the abbreviation “BR” in s. 20.005, consist of all moneys resulting from the contracting of public debt or revenue obligations in accordance with ch. 18.
(3) Appropriation types. The following types of appropriations may be made from any of the revenue types listed above. When an appropriation varies from these basic types, it is identified as the type which most nearly fits that appropriation and the variation is specifically stated in ss. 20.115 to 20.875.
(a) Annual appropriations. Annual appropriations, indicated by the abbreviation “A” in s. 20.005, are appropriations which are expendable only up to the amount shown in the schedule and only for the fiscal year for which made. At the end of the fiscal year the unencumbered balances shall revert to the fund from which appropriated unless the appropriation is a program revenue or program revenue — service appropriation and indicates the moneys are to be credited to the account for that appropriation, in which case all unencumbered balances shall be retained in that appropriation account. In ss. 20.115 to 20.875, all appropriations are annual unless otherwise indicated and the introductory phrase “annually” is used only when necessary to avoid confusion with other appropriation types.
(b) Biennial appropriations. Biennial appropriations, indicated by the abbreviation “B” in s. 20.005, are appropriations which are expendable only for the biennium for which made. Dollar amounts shown in the schedule under s. 20.005 represent the most reliable estimates of the amounts which will be expended in each fiscal year, the total for both years being the biennial appropriation. For accounting purposes and for the administration of s. 20.002 (1), the appropriation for the first year of a biennium shall be the sum of the expenditures for such year plus the outstanding encumbrances at the close of such year; the unencumbered balance at the close of the first year shall constitute the appropriation for the 2nd year of the biennium. At the end of the biennium the unencumbered balances shall revert to the fund from which appropriated unless the appropriation is a program revenue or program revenue — service appropriation and indicates the moneys are to be credited to the account for that appropriation, in which case all unencumbered balances shall be retained in that appropriation account. Biennial appropriations are indicated in ss. 20.115 to 20.875 by the introductory phrase “biennially”.
(c) Continuing appropriations. Continuing appropriations, indicated by the abbreviation “C” in s. 20.005, are appropriations which are expendable until fully depleted or repealed by subsequent action of the legislature. The amount of a sum certain continuing appropriation for a given fiscal year consists of the unencumbered balance in the appropriation account at the end of the previous fiscal year, if any, together with any moneys appropriated under s. 20.005 for that fiscal year. The amount of a continuing appropriation other than a sum certain appropriation consists of the unencumbered balance in the appropriation account at the end of the previous fiscal year, if any, together with any revenues received during the fiscal year that are directed by law to be credited to the appropriation account. Dollar amounts shown in the schedule under s. 20.005 for a continuing appropriation other than a sum certain appropriation represent the most reliable estimates of the amounts which will be expended during any fiscal year. Except as provided in ss. 20.002 (11) and 20.903 (2), expenditures made in accordance with ch. 16 under a continuing appropriation other than a sum certain appropriation are limited only by the available revenues from which the appropriation is made. Continuing appropriations are indicated in ss. 20.115 to 20.875 by the introductory phrase, “as a continuing appropriation,” “all moneys received from,” or “all moneys transferred from.”
(d) Sum sufficient appropriations. Sum sufficient appropriations, indicated by the abbreviation “S” in s. 20.005, are appropriations which are expendable from the indicated source in the amounts necessary to accomplish the purpose specified. Dollar amounts shown under s. 20.005 represent the most reliable estimate of the amounts which will be needed. Sum sufficient appropriations are indicated in ss. 20.115 to 20.875 by the introductory phrase “a sum sufficient”.
(e) Capital improvement authorizations. The appropriations in s. 20.866 (2) are authorizations to contract public debt in accordance with ch. 18. The amount of debt repaid under each authorization shall not be construed to represent new or additional authority even though the authority is not reduced by the amount of repayment. The limiting dollar amount contained in the language of any appropriation under s. 20.866 (2) is the cumulative total authorization carried over from previous biennia plus any new authorization contained in the schedule.
(4) General purpose revenue — earned. Revenue which is received by a state agency incidentally in connection with general purpose revenue appropriations in the course of accomplishing program objectives, which is not designated as a refund of an expenditure by the secretary of administration under sub. (5) and for which no program revenue appropriation is made shall be designated as general purpose revenue (GPR) — earned. This revenue shall be treated as a nonappropriated receipt and is not available for expenditure.
(5) Refunds of expenditures. Any amount not otherwise appropriated under this chapter that is received by a state agency as a result of an adjustment made to a previously recorded expenditure from a sum certain appropriation to that agency due to activities that are of a temporary nature or activities that could not be anticipated during budget development and which serves to reduce or eliminate the previously recorded expenditure in the same fiscal year in which the previously recorded expenditure was made, except as provided in ss. 20.435 (4) (gm) and 20.437 (2) (md), may, upon request of the agency, be designated by the secretary of administration as a refund of an expenditure. Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, the secretary of administration may designate an amount received by a state agency as a refund of an expenditure only if the agency submits to the secretary a written explanation of the circumstances under which the amount was received that includes a specific reference in a statutory or nonstatutory law to a function of the agency under which the amount was received and the appropriation from which the previously recorded expenditure was made. A refund of an expenditure shall be deposited by the receiving state agency in the appropriation account from which the previously recorded expenditure was made. Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, a state agency which proposes to make an expenditure from moneys designated as a refund of an expenditure shall submit to the secretary of administration a written explanation of the purpose of the expenditure, including a specific reference in a statutory or nonstatutory law to a function of the agency under which the expenditure is to be made and the appropriation from which the expenditure is to be made. After submission and approval of an estimate of the amount proposed to be expended under s. 16.50 (2), a state agency may expend the moneys received from the refund of the expenditure. The secretary of administration may waive submission of any explanation required by this subsection for categories of refunds of expenditures or proposed refunds of expenditures.
(6) Applied receipts.
(a) Except as provided in par. (b), applied receipts are program or segregated revenue the appropriation of which reduces the amounts appropriated under another appropriation. The reduction is indicated in the other appropriation by the phrase “less the amounts appropriated as applied receipts under”. Applied receipts shall be expended and deposited in the same manner as other program or segregated revenue.
(b) If the other appropriation under par. (a) is a sum sufficient appropriation, the reduction reduces the estimate under s. 20.005 of the dollar amounts that will be needed.
Source: WI Statutes (Official Site)URL: https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/document/statutes/20.001Fetched: 10/7/2026