Barry Cain

As we come closer to the April 2 facilities referendum, I will be providing a series of weekly articles that highlight specific projects that make up the referendum as a whole. All these articles are meant to take a deeper dive into the rationale of the particular projects while also looking at associated costs and past projects of the district. 

I want to start this series with providing residents with the larger financial picture of the district and the unique opportunity that we have regarding the ability to provide for stable taxes and still provide for needed facilities projects. I know this is a long article but putting all of the information into one spot is beneficial to see the big picture.

In 2016, area residents approved the referendum to construct the Ellsworth Elementary School. At that time, it was stated that the largest tax impact of the project would be in the 2016-2017 school year due to the original debt for the middle school going off the books. Since then, residents have seen the school district’s actual tax levy decline substantially until this year. To demonstrate this point, the 2016-2017 tax levy was $10,075,270. Through the years leading up to the 2022-2023 school year we saw the levy stay stable or decline to the point in which the levy for the 2022-2023 year was $9,206,056. This decline was due to some local factors but was also due to factors related to the state budget and COVID funding. At the same time, local property values increased by over $425 million causing the mill rates to drop substantially.    

In the 2023-2024 school year we saw this trend change as our local tax levy increased to $10,072,317. This is basically back to the levy we had in the 2016-2017 school year as noted above. This was the direct result of the state budget that addressed many of the financial issues of districts like ours that were identified as low funded districts. We will still be at the state’s minimum revenue available per student ($11,000) but this was an increase for our district from the $10,012 per student we were at, which was one of the lowest in the state. In the short term, it raised local taxes. In the long term, it reduces the amounts of money needed through operational referenda for districts like us. It is a good thing in the long run, but the short-term impact was the increase we saw this past year. This had been highlighted in our public survey and conveyed to residents through our newsletters and previous superintendent articles so that residents were informed as we evaluated the referendum projects. 

I know that all this information is a lot at one time, but I feel it is also important to highlight the unique opportunity the district has at this time to shape its financial future. The projected tax impact of the projects is $79 per $100,000 in residential property value. As a comparison, the projected tax impact of the Ellsworth Elementary School in 2016 was $123 per $100,000. The projects being proposed are the result of our facility study and the public input taken from the community survey which narrowed down the projects. We have only a small amount of debt going off the books in the 2026-2027 school year so there is not an immediate ability to offset this cost.  

The opportunity that the district is provided at this time is a longer-range ability to address facility needs as debt goes off the books in order to provide for tax stability. The current project would be bonded for a 20-year period of time. The elementary school debt is retired in 2035. With this, the district would have the ability to once again address larger projects in 2035 as debt is retired and greatly reduce the tax impact at that time. This would then also be the opportunity in 2045 as the debt for the current projects would be retired.  

A primary financial goal for school districts is to provide for stable taxes over time. The information I provided above provides a pathway to this goal while still providing for responsible facility project planning. There are of course many other factors that will impact budgets, facility needs, and taxes over time that cannot be predicted but what I have laid out is pretty concrete in nature and I hope assists in understanding the longer-range financial picture.

Thanks for taking the time to read this lengthy article. I promise the remaining articles will not be nearly as long! I just feel it is vital to get this information out to all residents. If there are any questions about this or more, please give me a call at 715-273-3900 or email me at cainb@ellsworth.k12.wi.us