How We Research

• 8,668sourced facts, each saved with its link and the exact wording
• 2,460official pages cited
• 240websites, mostly government offices and utilities
• Monthlyevery source reopened and checked. Latest run: October 2026

Our Rules

• Straight From the Source

  We get each fact from the office that sets it: the city ordinance, the state statute, the utility tariff, the manufacturer's manual. Not from news stories, other guides or forums.

• Linked Where It's Used

  The source link sits right next to the fact, so you can check it in one click. If we can't link an official source for a number, the number doesn't go on the page.

• Dated and Rechecked

  Every guide shows the date we last checked it. Rates and schedules get rechecked on the calendar below, and every guide gets a full review at least once a year.

• No made-up numbers. We never estimate a price, rate, date or statistic and present it as fact. Where a tool does math (a tax bill, a utility bill), it uses the official rates and shows them.
• Unclear stays unclear. If the official source is vague, or two offices disagree, we say so instead of guessing.
• No company picks. Our guides don't recommend specific businesses. Lists such as the Madison Contractor Finder come straight from public records, with no one paying to be on them.

How a Fact Gets Here

1. Find who sets it. Trash day is set by the City of Madison Streets Division, the gas rate by the utility and the Public Service Commission, the garage door safety rule by federal regulation. That office is the source.
2. Save the link and the exact wording. Every fact goes into our research files with its URL and the sentence it came from, word for word. That's what lets us check it again later.
3. Write it plainly, with the link. We rewrite the rule in plain language and put the source link beside it.
4. Date the page. The guide shows the day we last checked its facts against those sources.
5. Check it again. Every month, a script reopens every source page and looks for the wording we saved. When the wording changed, someone reads the new version and updates the guide. When an official page disappears, we cite the Internet Archive's saved copy of that same official page until the office puts it back up.

What We Update, and When

Rules and rates change on their own calendars: tax rates in December, income limits in spring, gas prices every month. We check each one when its source publishes the new numbers.

Every Month

Every Quarter

Every Year, When the New Numbers Come Out

Whenever It Happens

Everything else, such as statutes, building codes and manufacturer instructions, changes rarely. It gets caught by the monthly source check and by each guide's yearly review.

Data We Build

Some pages go further than quoting a rule. We pull public records directly, such as city permit reports, assessor parcel files and NOAA weather records, and turn them into tables and tools you won't find anywhere else. Where we can, you can download the same data.

Where Our Facts Come From

These are the offices and organizations behind the 2,460 pages we cite, with the number of their pages we cite. The count comes from our October 2026 source check.

Plus 135 pages from smaller offices and programs, such as school districts, the Tenant Resource Center, Project Home and individual product makers.

Who's Behind It

Badger Homeowner is independent. We aren't part of any city, county, utility or government office, and no company pays to change what a guide says. More about us.

Found a Mistake?

Tell us and we'll check it against the source and fix it. We read every message.

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