Fixing Funding (WI)
November 30, 2010
Area school district administrators agree that a revamped school funding formula is a step in the right direction.
Under State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Evers’ Fair Funding proposal unveiled Nov. 16, every school district in Fond du Lac and northeast Dodge counties would get a boost in state aid.
The plan — which carries a $420 million price tag — would increase state aid by 2 percent in 2011-12 and by 4 percent in 2012-13.
The plan would be funded by rerouting to schools roughly $900 million that shows up on homeowners’ bills as property tax credit.
“I can understand the frustration of the local taxpayer who will say that their property taxes will rise without these levy credits,” said Lomira Superintendent John Mason. “In reality, there is no simple solution to this funding issue.”
Evers told those in attendance at the unveiling of the plan that there would be no net increase in property taxes statewide.
More than lip service
State aid to schools takes the biggest bite out of the state budget, accountin g for more than 37 percent of the total. While many Republican leaders appear to be supportive of Evers’ plan, a looming $2.7 billion biennial budget shortfall may make funding the plan not as palatable.
“It’s a start and I sincerely hope that Governor-elect Scott Walker and our state Legislature will pay more than ‘lip service’ to Dr. Evers’ proposal,” Mason said.
Walker’s spokesman Cullen Werwie applauded Evers for trying to fix the beleaguered school funding system, but said “true funding reform means focusing on how to better spend the dollars we have today.”
While Evers acknowledged that finding the funds necessary to make the plan viable would be difficult given the state’s funding woes, he called the plan a “golden opportunity” and a modest investment that would result in creating a more fair and sustainable way of funding schools.
Fair and transparent
For the first time, the funding formula would also take into account how many students are in poverty, not just local property wealth, to determine how much aid a district will receive.
North Fond du Lac Superintendent Aaron Sadoff said Evers’ plan was “realistic” and able to be quickly implemented to help all schools.
“One of the things is it’s more simplistic and transparent about where the money comes from and how that money is then distributed to all school districts throughout the state,” Sadoff said.
Under the proposed plan, Sadoff’s school district would receive about 7 percent more in state aid.
“This by no means will solve all our financial difficulties but i t’s a step in the right direction,” Sadoff said. “It would also help us to more accurately predict what our future budgets will be so we can plan accordingly.”
Tax relief
Like most school districts, Ripon would see reduced tax bills if the tax levy credit were swapped for a lower school district mill rate, said Ripon School Superintendent Richard Zimman.
“The district’s budget, however, would remain under the same revenue limits, so there would be no new money to spend in the short term,” Zimman said. “The plan doesn’t pretend to solve all the school financing issues, but it’s a good first step by giving property tax relief to our taxpayers and introducing the challenging effects of poverty into the school funding formula.”
Evers’ plan would bring dramatic relief to the Waupun Area School District that has seen the property tax levy increase by 23 percent over the past two years despite only a 2.1 percent increase in spending, said Waupun Business Services Director John Stellmacher.
The Waupun Area Board of Education increased spending by just 3.2 percent for the 2010-11 school year. However, the district’s tax levy increased 13 percent and the tax rate jumped over 16 percent due to the district losing more than $850,000 in state aid and property valuations dropping nearly 3 percent.
Under Fair Funding, the district’s equalization aid would be boosted by $2.5 million.
“The decrease in the tax levy would result in a drop from $10.72 to $8.06 per $1,000 in the district’s mill rate,” Stellmacher said.
Had the state been under Evers’ rewritten aid formula during this budge ting cycle, the Fond du Lac School District would have been able to lower its tax rate by 54 cents per $1,000 of property valuation, said Superintendent James Sebert.
“It would lower the burden on the local taxpayer,” Sebert said.
If applied to the 2010-11 Campbellsport School District budget, taxpayers in the district would have seen a $2.36 per $1,000 reduction in the tax rate, said Campbellsport School Superintendent Dan Olson.
None of the state’s 424 districts would receive any less aid under the changes and 93 percent would see an increase, according to DPI figures.
Sadoff supports Evers’ decision to unveil his plan following the Nov. 2 election.
“We now have new people in government who are looking for ideas,” Sadoff said. “(Fair Funding) looks at the whole state. The more viable the funding, the better off all our kids are.”