It's not WHAT they do so much as HOW they do it

Thanks to Chamber of Commerce president Pete Simon,the school district now will fit into a new channel set aside for education, and the chamber membership dues would be a flat rate of $400.  That's a far cry from the $1300 fee that had been imposed on the school district as "just another business".

While it is a logical and sensible move for a school district  and partner with its local chamber of commerce, and just as logical that a school district be operated AS IF IT WERE a small/medium/large business, a school district is NOT a private business.  School districts are an arm of local government and are supported by state and local taxes.  Chambers of commerce serve to support the local business membership.  There are plenty of avenues available to "promote" local school districts without the need for a Chamber to promote them.  Essentially, a chamber of commerce benefits far more from having a school district be a member/partner than a school district does.  And that is why charging $1,300 per year for the Sun Prairie Area School District to be a member of the Sun Prairie Chamber of Commerce was ludicrous.  Thanks to Pete Simon, the chamber has come to its senses.

How do we pay this $400 membership?

The school board started off with good news: Sun Prairie actually received $321,327 more in state aid than was originally projected at the annual meeting.  That means the tax levy could be lowered by the same amount. Emphasis on could.  Deputy District Administrator of Business Operations Phil Frei indicated that two options were available to the board:

(A) raise the tax levy by $400; or 

(B) cut $400 from another area in the budget.

Which do you suppose they chose?

Enter "Nickle and Dimin' Jim"

Not to be confused with Diamond Jim Brady, old Nickle and Dimin' Jim McCourt (formerly known as Seabass) made a motion to take the $400 out of the tax levy instead of instructing administration to find somewhere in Phil's "Our Dough" pants from whence the $400 could come.

Are you kidding us?

(channelling our best imitation of "Really!?! with Seth and Amy here")

Really?

REALLY, Jim?

Are you that guy that charges a pack of gum to his credit card?  Really?

You pissed and moaned about establishing what amounted to be a very insignificant --and ridiculuous-- charge to teachers for a "Personal Appliance Fee" but leap to lay another $400 on the taxpayers here?  REALLY?

Really.  You reduce the tax levy by $320,000 only to tack back on another 400?  Really?

So you actually ADDED a whopping $400 to a 45.5 MILLION dollar tax levy? Really?

The school district budget is well over $72 MILLION dollars and SOMEWHERE in there you couldn't come up with FOUR HUNDRED DOLLARS? Really? Really!

What were you thinking? 

And let's not forget that it was none other than that tax cutting machine Caren Diedrich that seconded your silly ass motion to add the $400 to the tax levy.   

And the whole freakin' board --save John Welke who had the sense to be ill and not be a part of this nonsense---voted unanimously to support the Dimin' Jim / Nicklin' Diedrich move.

Way to screw up a really well done job up to that point!

Back to the Good News

So...subtracting $321,327 to the original tax levy approved by electors on 10/11/10 and then ADDING BACK $400.00 brings us to a final levy of $45,503,644.  The new projected mill rate winds up at $12.12.