SUPERINTENDENT’S

Tax impact of referendum

Understanding the local school tax levy implications of a referendum is always an important piece of any referendum communications. This column provides some basic information regarding the recent local school tax levy trends and the projected local school tax levies related to the current April 5 Operational Referendum.

As the bar graph demonstrates, our district has continued to see a downward trend in the actual local school tax levy since the first year of the operation of the Ellsworth Elementary School. This was projected at the time as other debt was being retired along with a number of other factors. Projected local school tax levies are actually lower than the tax levy in the fall of 2015 ($9.1 million) which was prior to the 2016 approval of the elementary school and approval of the 2018 Operational Referendum.

We have a unique circumstance this year as the tax levies projected actually decrease from the 2021-2022 school year with the approval of the proposed Operational Referendum. Below is information about the major reasons this is able to happen:

•State Aid Increases: This is a significant reason for the declining levy. The current state biennium included large increases in state “equalized” aids that are targeted to reduce property taxes. These aids represent the state’s portion of the costs of our local education. With increases in these aids, the local taxes have a greater ability to decrease.

•State Budgetary Revenue Freezes: The current state biennium budget did not include any increases in the local revenue limits or low revenue ceiling. These two factors are key ingredients in providing local districts with actual funds to operate. These freezes, accompanied with increased aids, provide for a decline in the local tax levy.

•Student Population Increases: Although our actual student population is relatively flat, we are seeing an increase in the number of students we count at the present time as we have been able to provide for a full summer school program. Following the 2020-2021 school year, many districts were not able to operate a full summer school program. During the summer of 2021, we were able to return to relatively normal operations. With this, we see increased aid from the state.

These factors, combined with many other budgetary elements, allow for the lower local school tax levy projections.

I encourage all community members to visit our referendum page on our website at www.ellsworth.k12.wi.us. The information includes short videos about a number of specifics about the referendum, the impacts of referendum dollars, and tax impacts.

BY ELLSWORTH SCHOOL SUPERINTENDENT BARRY CAIN