Revenue is not keeping pace with expenses, despite several efforts taken by the district to reduce expenses.The current $575,000 per year non-recurring referendum ends June 30, 2025. 

State law requires school districts to gain permission from citizens for revenue the district needs above what is above the State-set revenue limit. 

If approved, the operational revenue contributes to:

• Retention of quality staff

• Sustain educational programming for students

• Providing essential technology

• Rebuilding financial stability

Asking for the same amount is not a sustainable long-term solution.  The previous referendum (passed in April 2020) occurred at a time of little to no increase in revenue, and increasing costs and high inflationary increases, resulting in it depleting the District’s reserve funds. The proposed referendum addresses the estimated gap between projected revenue and expenses over the next five years, while stabilizing the reserve funds.

School Districts in Wisconsin are funded by two primary sources: State aid (money received by the State of Wisconsin) and local property taxes. The state funding formula limits what any Wisconsin school district can collect in revenue from all sources, including local property taxes.

Like many school districts, state aid and local revenues are not keeping pace with costs to maintain the current educational programs, maintain buildings, update technology, and address emerging student needs.

The taxpayers of the Beecher-Dunbar-Pembine School District approved a 5-year non-recurring referendum April, 2020. Even with the $575,000 non-recurring referendum, there remains a budget shortfall of $250,000. The District has reduced staff through attrition, has spent down the fund balance, and has relied on short-term borrowing to balance its operating budget and sustain operations.

The school tax is just one component of the property tax bill.  Other components include taxes from the municipality, the county, and the technical college.

The school tax amount does not change, when property values go up. However, property values help to determine the portion of the tax that each property owner will pay when equalized across the municipality.

Often times we talk about this in terms of tax (mill) rates (school tax amount / equalized property values * 1000). This helps to determine the amount of tax paid by a property owner per $1,000 of property value. The tax (mill) rate is affected by property values.  When property values increase across the municipalities, the mill rate will go down.  

In cases where the property value is greater than the average of property values across the municipality, then more taxes may be paid by that property owner.  Conversely, if the property value is less that the property values across the municipality, then less taxes may be paid by the property owner.

The tax increase of the operational referendum, based on our current set of assumptions, is 52 cents per $1,000 of property value.

To come up with this number, it is assumed that property values will grow by 2.5%, which is a conservative projection. This calculation takes the difference between the new referendum and the expiring referendum ($225,000) divided by the projected equalized property value for 2025-26 ($430,257,308).  

See graph at the top that shows the estimated tax impact of the referendum.

• If the operational referendum question is approved, the District would be able to retain quality staff, sustain educational opportunities, provide essential technology, and rebuild financial stability. The District will be able to meet its ongoing operational and maintenance costs and provide educational programs and services for students that meet their career preparation needs.

•  If the operational referendum is not approved, the Board of Education will ask again for an operational referendum in April 2025. The District will need to consider drastic cuts to educational programming. The Board of Education remains responsible to manage the long-term financial viability of the District.

First, there is a difference between operating referendums and capital referendums. 

Operational money is used for staffing, services, educational supplies, and routine maintenance vs capital referendums support borrowing specified amounts of money for large-scale items, such as roofs, boilers and major building systems.

The District has been unable to keep pace with facility repairs while prioritizing educational programming over maintenance. 

The District participated in a facilities audit to prioritize projects into a 10-year facilities maintenance plan. This allows the district to budget for and complete necessary repairs on a cycle to maintain the district’s facilities.

HIstorically, The Board of Education has been conservative in what it asks for from taxpayers and some maintenance has been deferred; however, with the age of our buildings and for the safety and security of our students and staff, there are major projects that can not be deferred any longer. 

The District is at a critical place where we cannot defer maintenance for items that need to be repaired or replaced. Right now, an operating referendum will sustain operations for five years. The Board will likely seek voter approval of a capital referendum to obtain funds for specific one-time capital improvement projects, likely in April 2025.

There has been an ongoing effort to control costs, sustain programs, and maintain the buildings and grounds.

• Used attrition when staff retires

• Held district-wide salary increases to less than the rate of inflation

• Used Emergency Connectivity Fund Grant dollars to refresh our 1:1 technology devices

• Deferred replacement maintenance

• Families pay for daycare within our district. It is not paid for within the operating budget for the district and therefore does not address the operational deficit.

• Young families who need local daycare are more likely to enroll in our schools for consistency.

• Young staff members with children are attracted to our district because it is a huge benefit to our staff.

• We have no other daycare options in the area.