*** Special Electors Meeting on July 28, 2010 ***
What's an "Electors" Meeting? An Elector's Meeting is an official meeting of school district residents to discuss and vote on any number of orders of business that fall within the scope of "Powers" of the Electors. State law requires that each year (in October in Sun Prairie) a meeting of the Electors be held to vote on the amount of the school district tax levy. Astute observers will recall that at last year's Annual Electors Meeting, residents voted to reduce the levy requested by the district by $2M. What's a Special Electors Meeting? A "Special" Electors Meeting may be called in addition to the Annual Electors Meeting when district residents wish to effect a change with respect to one of the "powers" of the electors. How Often Do Special Elector's Meetings occur? Pretty rarely, actually. The last one in Sun Prairie was about 4 1/2 years ago when a ridiculously expense lease proposal was being pursued to use the new "Y" swimming pool. Of course, you now know that was voted down by about 120 or so residents at the Special Elector's meeting. State statutes allow up to two additional "Special" Elector's Meetings (in addition to the "Annual" Electors Meeting) each year. All that is required is a petition with 100 district resident signatures. The petition must clearly state the nature of business for the meeting, and it must fall with the scope of the "Powers of Electors". Who is an "Elector" (Who can vote)? Anyone that is 18 or older and has lived in the school district for the past 10 days. It's that simple. If you live within the Sun Prairie Area school district boundaries (and have for at least 10 days) and are at least 18, you may vote. What is the Issue being voted on at the July 28, 2010 Meeting? A request is being made to direct the district to change the minimum distance for bus service of middle school kids from 2.0 miles to 1.5 miles. This request comes from residents of Wyndham Hills, whose children were eligible for bus service up until this fall? Why The Change? The City recently installed a bike path the extends from the Wyndham Hills development to Prairie View Middle School. Prior to the availability of the bike path, the school kids' walking/bike route was declared "Unusually Hazardous (there are statutes to define that...of course). That allowed the district to provide busing and receive state aid to defray the cost. Now that the area is no longer officially deemed hazardous, the kids must walk the route. How Much Will It Cost? The current projection is about $146,000 for 2010-11; obviously transportation costs increase every year. With the current budget numbers, this looks to add about 4 cents ($0.04) to the mill rate, bringing it to about $12.16 for the school district portion for 2010-11. 4 cents amounts to about $8.00 annually for a $200,000 home. What are these "Powers" That We Have at Electors Meetings? (1) CHAIRPERSON AND CLERK. Elect a chairperson to run the meeting (2) ADJOURNMENT. Adjourn from time to time. (3) SALARIES OF SCHOOL BOARD MEMBERS. Vote annual salaries for school board members or an amount for each school board meeting the member actually attends. (4) REIMBURSEMENT OF SCHOOL BOARD MEMBERS. for expenses incurred (5) BUILDING SITES. Designate sites for school district buildings (5m) REAL ESTATE. Authorize the school board to acquire, by purchase or condemnation, real estate and structures and facilities (6) TAX FOR SITES, BUILDINGS AND MAINTENANCE. Vote a tax to purchase or lease suitable sites for school buildings, to build, rent,lease or purchase and furnish, equip and maintain school district buildings. (7) TAX FOR TRANSPORTATION VEHICLES. Vote a tax to purchase, operate and maintain transportation vehicles and to purchase liability insurance for such vehicles, and to finance contracts for the use and services of such vehicles. (8) TAX FOR OPERATION. Vote a tax for the operation of the schools of the school district. (9) TAX FOR DEBTS. Vote a tax necessary to discharge any debts or liabilities of the school district. (10) SCHOOL DEBT SERVICE FUND. Vote a tax to create a fund for the purpose of paying all current bonded indebtedness for capital expenditures. (10m) SCHOOL CAPITAL EXPANSION FUND. Vote a tax to create a fund for the purpose of financing all current and future capital expenditures related to buildings and sites. (11) TAX FOR RECREATION AUTHORITY. Vote a tax for the purposes specified in s. 66.0123. (12) SALE OF PROPERTY. Authorize the sale of any property belonging to and not needed by the school district. (14) LEGAL PROCEEDINGS. Direct and provide for the prosecution or defense of any action or proceedings in which the school district is interested. (15) TEXTBOOKS. Authorize the school board to furnish textbooks under conditions prescribed by the annual meeting or by the school board. The authorization shall continue in effect until revoked by a subsequent annual meeting. (16) SCHOOL LUNCHES. Direct the school board to furnish school lunches to the pupils of the school district and appropriate funds for that purpose. |
SP-EYE: We applaud the residents of Wyndham Hills for (A) becoming engaged in the school district process, and (B) for doing their homework and exercising their rights to demand a Special Elector's Meeting. Elector's Meetings DO offer some district residents some pretty awesome powers.
We hope they'll stay engaged for the budget hearing and, more importantly, for the Annual Electors Meeting scheduled for October 11th.
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