The Will of the People? Or the Words of the Lawyer?

A hearty "THANK YOU" goes out to the nearly 200 residents who came out to the annual meeting last Monday night to vote on the annual school district tax levy.

But your work MAY NOT be complete.

Tomorrow at 6:30 PM in room 100 of the School District office (501 S, Bird St.), the school board will sit down to finalize the budget and direct administration as to what number to use for the tax levy.

The board/administration was looking for $46.25M.
The people voted to set the levy at $44.25M...or $2M less than what the board/district wanted.

Muddying the waters were the words of the school district attorney, Mike Julka. Responding to an audience question regarding what happens if no levy is voted upon, or if the people vote for a lower (than requested) levy....

According to Mike Julka, attorney present at the meeting for legal consultation, if the electors did not adopt a levy or adopted one that is insufficient to support SPASD operations, the school board will adopt a levy that is sufficient. The board must adopt a budget for the 2009-10 school year no later than Nov. 1.
---The Sun Prairie STAR, 10/13/09


Now, we don't mean to sound the alarm. A reasonable mind would say that the levy voted by the community was not "insufficient", since there is about $8M in fund balance, and in light of last minute information that will increase the amount of state aid and reduce the necessary tax levy.

But...with our school board, past history has shown that we are not always dealing with reasonable minds. Blindly-supportive-of-district-administration bobbleheads, yes....but any voice of reason left the school board table several years ago.

So for that reason, if you can at all attend tomorrow's meeting, you should do so. The school board may still believe that last Monday was all just a bad dream. If residents pack the room to monitor for shenanigans, however, the board just might be reminded that it all happened.

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Agenda for10/19/2009 SCHOOL BOARD WORK-STUDY MEETING,

6:30 p.m. at the District Office (Room 100), 501 S. Bird St., Sun Prairie.

Chair: John Whalen

1. Opening Items
......1.01 Call to Order, Roll Call, Affirmation of Public Notice
2. Discussion
......2.01 Discuss 2009-2010 School Year Budget and Tax Levy to provide direction to the administration for the preparation of documents and materials for the School Board meeting on October 26
3. Adjournment
......3.01 Adjourn the meeting

Note:
Upon reasonable notice, effort will be made to accommodate the needs of disabled individuals through appropriate aids and services. For additional information or to request this service, contact the District Office, 501 S. Bird St., Sun Prairie, WI 53590 (608) 834-6502.