GOP proposals would limit Wisconsin school districts' ability to raise revenue [View all]

[riversedge]

Here we have state government telling local government what they can or can not do with their schools. Big Government Republicans--damn them@


Madison.com Politics ‏@MadPolitics 10h10 hours ago

GOP proposals would limit Wisconsin school districts' ability to raise revenue http://host.madison.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/gop-proposals-would-limit-wisconsin-school-districts-ability-to-raise/article_01dfd1b8-e594-50d8-83b7-5b1d840ef632.html …


GOP proposals would limit Wisconsin school districts' ability to raise revenue

MOLLY BECK [e-mail], 608-252-6135 9 hrs ago 66

Republican state lawmakers are seeking to restrict when and how local school districts can raise money from their local taxpayers at a time when the state is offering few new dollars for public schools.

Legislators proposing the bills say the moves are designed to lower property taxes, keep voters from being worn down by multiple referendum campaigns and prevent special elections when turnout is low.

But critics say the measures are another example of GOP lawmakers making it harder for public schools to pay the rising costs of educating the state’s 870,000 public school students and could hurt school boards’ ability to ensure cash flow.

The bills come during an uptick in referendums — 206 in 2014, the most in at least 10 years, state records show — and the rate at which they pass. One in four in recent years were held outside of the traditional spring or fall elections, according to the Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance.

In April, 76 percent of the referendums to exceed revenue limits passed. That compares to a typical rate of about 50 percent in years prior. This represents a changing perception of the state’s support of public schools, said Todd Berry, president of the Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance.

“This reflects a shift in public opinion due, I think, to tighter state-imposed restraint on aids and revenue limits in recent years,” Berry said. “There is one instance above all when locals will vote to tax themselves: a fear that they might lose their community’s or neighborhood’s school.”

One bill — yet to be introduced but available in draft form — would require school boards to ask voters to approve referendums only during the traditional spring or fall elections, and prohibit school boards from going back to voters for two years after a referendum is rejected.

Currently, school boards can hold special elections for referendums and can go back to voters during the next scheduled election if a question fails.

Another bill bans school boards from exceeding their state-imposed revenue limits in order to pay for energy-efficiency projects — an exception to levy limits that lawmakers created in 2009.

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