There is a reason why the act of making the columns of a budget come out even is called "balancing."

Every budget has two parts, spending and revenue. We tend to envision them as the two sides of a scale, balancing delicately on a fulcrum between them. When the two sides of a scale are uneven, you restore balance by adding weight to the lighter side or removing weight from the heavier side. When the discrepancy is large, you usually have to adjust both sides to make them balance.

Budgets are no different. As long as the amounts of money coming in and going out are roughly the same, the universe is in order and the accounting gods smile upon us.

But the accounting gods are not smiling on the Wisconsin state budget at the moment. According to figures released Nov. 20 by the Department of Administration, we have a $5.4 billion imbalance in our state budget. This represents the amount by which the state coffers are expected to be short of covering projected expenses in the current fiscal year and upcoming biennial budget.

It is the worst deficit in the state's history.

With a deficit of this size, it is imperative that we take a balanced approach to bringing it back into line.

We cannot simply slash our way out of this predicament. We must thoughtfully explore ways to increase state revenue as well.

Why is it important that we start a serious conversation about increasing state revenue? The hole is simply too big.

Attempting to fix it just by spending less would cause serious damage to the state's public systems and infrastructure, and would undermine the very things that make Wisconsin a great place to live, work, do business, grow up and grow old -- things like great schools, a skilled workforce, a strong health care system, safe communities, and well-maintained roads and natural areas.

Our most vulnerable children and families, who rely heavily on many of the public systems and services that would be scaled back, would be among the hardest hit.

Fortunately, there are a number of options available for increasing state revenue, and some of them would not cost ordinary taxpayers much, if any, of their hard-earned money.

The Wisconsin Council on Children and Families, along with the Institute for Wisconsin's Future, recently released a catalog of alternatives for reforming the state's tax system in ways that would help address the budget shortfall.

Some of them, such as closing loopholes that allow multi-state corporations to evade taxes by shifting profits on paper to subsidiaries based elsewhere, seem like no-brainers. Others, such as increasing the income tax rate for the wealthiest state residents, would be tougher to sell to legislators and the public.

But the point is that plenty of options exist, and they must be part of the discussion. By finding smart ways to enhance state revenue and modernize our tax system to better align with new economic realities, we can both solve our immediate budget problems and position Wisconsin for future prosperity and competitiveness.

The people of Wisconsin have a long history of rising to the occasion when faced with daunting challenges. Let's use this difficult period as an opportunity to come together to keep Wisconsin great. Everybody in the state benefits when we unite to find shared solutions.

Eleson is executive director of the Wisconsin Council on Children and Families.