Numbers

District population - ~ 35,000
District population of voting age (18+) (~70%) - 24,500

# voters who voted for school board April 2009 ~4,000
# votes received by top vote getter, John Whalen ~ 3425
# residents who voted for the 2008-09 $65M budget/ $41.1M tax levy- 37

37.
That's right...John Whalen received over 3400 votes in last April's election, but only 1% of those voters showed up to vote on a $65M general budget and a tax levy of over $41M.

2008-09:... 37 electors voted (26 for; 11 against) to approve a $65 M general budget /41.1M tax levy

2007-08:... 32 electors voted to approve a $62 M general budget /$36.8M tax levy
Motion by former school board member Joe Goss; second by school board member John Whalen

2006-07:... 30 electors voted (25 for; 5 against) to approve a $57.25 M general budget/ $34.1M tax levy
Motion by Bird Principal Chad Wiedmeyer; second by school board member Cheryl Batterman

2005-06:... 33 electors voted (23 for; 10 against)to approve a $53 M general budget /$31.8M tax levy
Motion by District Administrator Tim Culver; second by school board member Cheryl Batterman

And you know who those 25 or so people are who always vote FOR the budget/tax levy?
---District Administrator Tim Culver,
---Deputy District Administrator Phil Frei
---a handful of other Administration folks
---7 school board members (most with significant others)
---several school principals (and their significant others)
---a handful of current and former district staff (and their significant others)
---a couple of former school board members (Havel-Lang, Goss)

Don't Gripe if You Don't Show Up and Vote
We hear from a lot of you. We hear your frustration with the spending and property tax increases. We know you're busy. But the annual elector's meeting is held ONCE a year. It takes about 2 hours tops. Yes...you miss some of Monday Night Football.

The annual elector's meeting is the ONE time when YOU, the electors, get to decide how much of a tax levy the school board is allowed to set. That levy decides how much that can be spent.

Many of you feel that your vote is useless. But when less than 40 people show up, individual votes carry a LOT of weight.
Come.
Speak your mind.
Cast your vote.

Annual Elector's Meeting
Monday October 12, 2009
7:00 PM
@ the Sun Prairie High School