Anomaly? Or Start of a Trend?

District Administrator Tim Culver has characterized what the community did last year---a 2-1 majority vote to reduce the school district's proposed tax levy by $2M--- as an "anomaly".
Was it an anomaly?  Or the start of a trend?  Guess we'll find out for sure this October 11th, when the school district brings it's budget and a tax levy projected to rise at least 4.5% over last year, to the community at the annual elector's meeting.


This is what the school district proposed last year:
SAMPLE MOTIONS FOR 2009 – 2010

Tax Levy
I move to approve a tax levy in the amount of Forty six million, two hundred forty nine
thousand, four hundred sixty one dollars ($46,249,461) upon all taxable property in the Sun
Prairie Area School District for the purposes of operating and maintaining the district schools
and for paying for debt for school projects.

...and this is what occurred
MINUTES OF THE 2009-10 ANNUAL ELECTOR'S MEETING

Set property tax levy for the 2009-2010 school year
It was moved by Gordon Anderson, 217 E. Goodland, Sun Prairie, and seconded by Lori Hansen, 962 Broadway Dr., Sun Prairie, to approve a tax levy in the amount of forty four million, two hundred forty nine thousand, four hundred sixty one dollars ($44,249,461) upon all taxable property in the Sun Prairie Area School District for the purposes of operating and maintaining the district schools and for paying for debt for school projects. Motion carried on a ballot vote: yes – 124; no – 60.


That's a solid 2-1 margin.  The community was hurting a year ago, and the community is STILL hurting.  The economy has NOT recovered.  As board member David Stackhouse pointed out this week, "Take a look at the downtown and the amount of office space for rent".  Good point.  No business and salary/job cuts means no tax revenues and no tax revenues means state aid for schools declines.  And that means that schools have to rely on the pockets of its community members.
Yes, we are opening a new high school, and yes, it is a historic event to open a new school and be under the revenue limit--let alone $3M under the revenue limit.  But these are historic times.  And historic changes are the order of the day.
Kinda makes you wonder if maybe NOW the district/board see that building a slightly lesser TajMah High School may have been a wiser move.  Aaaaahhh...but unlike our investment returns, hindsight remains 20/20.