11th Hour: Unsettling News on Equalized Values front.

Some potentially troubling news came out late this week.
Final fall equalized values were released (remember, that is the denominator) in the mill rate equation; the proposed tax levy is the numerator.  If the denominator is reduced, the mill rate goes up.

We've all seen the new construction, so we were all anticipating at the very least a small INCREASE in the equalized values.  The City of Sun Prairie was using 1% growth in its estimates.  The school district stayed with 0%.  It looks like the 0% is at least 1% closer to actual.

The city of Sun Prairie property values are actually DOWN 3.7%.  Who would have guessed that?

What's the Bottom Line?
Barring any last minute increase to equalized aid from the state, what this means is that our $2.4M windfall and tax levy decrease have evaporated as quickly as out water this part summer.  It's gone baby, gone.  We could be looking at a 2% tax levy INCREASE of as much as 1.7-2.0%.   The acrtual mill rate would now project to $12.84 (district-wide) instead of $12.44.

So...we may as well toss those annual meeting booklets (nice cover!) into the recycle bins.

Could the news get worse...or better?
Guess what?  The final final state aid amounts will not be released until sometime Monday morning.
Now...it's POSSIBLE that the drop in property values could land us a little more state aid to help mitigate this sudden melt-down in our tax picture.

Doesn't it seem just a teensy bit disingenuous to have a meeting the very evening (this Monday night, October 15) that final numbers come out?  Gee...give us a few minutes to digest the sudden bad news and then ask us to vote...right?  Maybe those 2% increases aren't looking like a very good move anymore?

Here's the hard part.  Like it or not, we have to agree at this point that the proposed tax levy, $46,437,308 is the amount necessary to operate and maintain our schools.  So we will need to suck it up and vote to support that levy.

You see, this is likely what Phil Frei has been trying to communicate (but has not done as well as one could).   We have to focus on the amount of dollars necessary to operate and maintain our schools.  But...we also have to be able to trust that the proposed expenditures do not include excessive fluff or unwarranted expenditures.

The rest...the tax levy and mill rate are out of Phil's hands.  From the expenditures budget, we subtract out the revenues received from federal,  state and other sources.  What remains must come from local sources (our wallets) ...the tax levy.  We had a nice surprise of a rather hefty, unexpected increase in state aid.  Now that appears to be washed away by a large decrease in property values.

So, suck it up, Chuck.  It's all for the children...right?

School Board Chooses Wisdom...and Compromise

On Monday night, the school board had to make a choice:
...set the tax levy $267,000 higher than proposed based on the voice of the faux "electors".
...or to stick to their guns and Caren Diedrich's line in the sand of a tax levy increase not to exceed 3.5%.

They chose wisely.
And they opted for compromise.
Amidst a little detour from decorum on the part of board president John Whalen.

The faux "electors" voted a tax levy $267,000 higher than that in the proposed budget because they wanted to fund the "Sensational Six" new budget initiatives that the school board had ultimately decided against building into its budget.

The board chose wisely because the money WAS available in the existing budget (as we've said all along).  So the faux "electors" ultimately get what they want, district administration gets what they want, and residents struggling financially do not have to deal with a property tax greater than anticipated.

You have to respect board member John Welke for sticking to his guns and casting the lone "No" vote.   The original motion coming out of the Finance Committee called for a levy of no more than 3.5% and to fund only the top 4 initiatives.  The district simply did not do an adequate job in explaining the need for the Buildings & Grounds FTE or the Data Programmer.  It's hard to put oneself out on a limb; but anyone can be a sheep.

Everybody wins.

Now, the next task at hand is to repair the damage done and fix the annual meeting process.
What is the point of having ANY budget hearings during the years.  Why not wait until one week before the tax levy is required to be set by law, come out in force at the annual meeting and vote in a tax levy right up to the revenue limit.

Hey...why not just vote a tax levy $2.6M higher, and take us right up to the revenue limit this year.  Then we could simply send any kid that wishes to learn Mandarin Chinese over to China for a year...all expenses paid.  Heck we could send a bunch of administrators as well.

After all, taxing right up to the revenue limit would only add about $0.70 (70 cents) to the mill rate.  For a $200,000 home, that's only about another $140 per year, or about $12 per month.

Isn't it worth sending kids directly to China for a year to lean Chinese at a cost of only a large pizza per month?
Who cares if it would raise the mill raise higher than it has been since 1996-97 ($13.65)?
Right????