School District has a $1.3M Surplus

Community residents reduced the proposed tax levy last year by $2 MILLION dollars.

We heard school board members and district administration snipe at the community for their "short-sightedness".

We were warned of the "rebound" effect.

We were warned that taking money out of the slush fund (Fund Balance" would hurt our credit rating, costing us higher borrowing rates.

Then the mirrors were shattered...

...and the smoke cleared.

We borrowed money with NO adverse impact on our credit or bond rating.

We made it through the school year with only $1.1M in "reductions".

Nobody lost their job.

Administrators and Local 60 were hit with ONE furlough day.

But the biggest news only materialized this week.

Despite a proposed levy reduced by $2M,

the district budget still had a surplus (increase) of $1.3M.

That's right folks. We heard about the doom and gloom of reducing fund balance.

We prepared to have Fund Balanced reduced by $800,000 to $7.2M.

Instead, Fund Balance GREW to between $8.4 and $8.5M

Hmmm....maybe the levy should have been reduced FOUR MILLION!

We all believe in providing a quality education, but how can we support the budgets and levies presented to us when they are this unreliable?

If we---excuse us--if the school board continues to sanction these unreliable budgets, where do you suppose the "surplus" money is going to be spent?

85 cents of every dollar in the budget goes towards salary and fringe benefit costs. So...it follows that 85 cents of any surplus dollars in the budget will wind up funding either new positions we do not need (like another vice principal at a high school with only 1400 kids in it) or ridiculous raises for staff.

Until we can trust the school board that their budgets are certified fluff free, it sure looks like the community will come out in force and cut the levy themselves.

It's a very dangerous game the school board is playing.

They are playing with fire...

...and they WILL get burned.

Sun Prairie is tops!

The old adage goes that the only two sure things are death and taxes. For Sun Prairie, let's make that GROWTH and TAXES.

Recently, our luvable little---errr....BIG----city rose to the top of two charts:

1. Sun Prairie is the top growing city in all of Wisconsin (any surprise there?)

The article states that,

"The city, which counts artist Georgia O'Keeffe as its most famous native
daughter, has now swelled to 27,758 residents, making it Dane County's
second-largest city. A 24 percent growth rate since 2000 also makes it the
fastest-growing city in Wisconsin, with more than 10,000 new residents."

http://www.madison.com/tct/news/index.php?ntid=318899

1. Sun Prairie also ranks number one in Dane Country in terms of taxes...according to the fair tax comparison performed by the Wisconsin State Journal. (that probably doesn't come as a surprise either).

Read the article

Review or download the tax comparison table

Remember folks....a mill rate is just a number; a mill rate alone is like toast without butter. The Senior Partners love to quote mill rates and use them to their advantage. "Hey....look at us! We're nowhere NEAR the awful mill rate people face in the town of Montrose!". But in the end, it's all about the benjamins....YOUR benjamins. You have to look at a mill rate relative to the assessed value of your home. And THEN, you have to consider that assessed value relative to what a fair market value would be. THAT converts something that aspires to BE a number into a real cash liability...your property tax bill.

YOUR chance to vote!

The annual Sun Prairie Area School District elector's meeting will be held Monday October 13, 2008 at 7:00 pm in the Sun Prairie high school auditorium.

Finally, it's YOUR chance to vote. Items up for vote include:

$41,124,489.00

That's the tax levy the school district would like to set for 2008-09.

$3,500.00 / $3,300.00
That's annual "salary" we pay the school board president and other school board members. Think they deserve a raise? a paycut? This is YOUR chance to have a say and cast YOUR vote instead of just watching school board members cast theirs.

$500,000.00

That's the amount from last year's $1.5M in budget surplus that school board Finance Chair Jim McCourt would like to use to pay against future WRS loan payments due. Would you rather this $500K be used to reduce the amount of the tax levy and lower your property tax bill?

Be informed. Be a part of of the process. At this meeting, the ELECTORS (us) get to vote. Obtain a copy of the Annual Report (which coincidentally the District posted after SP-EYE noted it's distinct absence.)

$111,268,227.00
That's the net total expenditures expected for all funds for 2008-09.

24.35%

That's the total fund expenditure increase over last year.

Tax Delinquency Issue - Final Chapter

Several folks have contacted us regarding school board president David Stackhouse's repeated on-air insistence that he "dealt with [his delinquent taxes] as soon as he became aware of the problem".

Inquiring minds wanted to know....what's the dealio? What are the facts?

Well, folks, I thought we had put this one to bed, but if Mr. Stackhouse wants to continue to deny the facts, then the facts will continue to rear their ugly heads.

Thanks to "Committed Community Member", SP-EYE is now in receipt of incontrovertible data obtained directly from the Dane County Treasurer's office. First let's recap:

• Mr. Stackhouse was not in arrears just for this past year. He was in arrears for the total taxes due for the past three tax years.
• Do the math: the tax bill, with interest and penalties was over $14,000. Stackhouse doesn't own mansion. The overdue taxes were certainly more than one year.
• Stackhouse paid the total amount due --arguably in response to concerns that these facts would be picked up by local media outlets--in two installments in July 2008.

Now for the rest of the story.

As indicated previously, SP-EYE has received copies of 8 separate mailings made to Mr. Stackhouse alerting him that his taxes were in arrears. The Dane County Treasurer routinely mails delinquent tax reminders showing the total amount due at least quarterly. Copies of all these mailings are retained. The mailing address matches Mr. Stackhouse's residence. Maybe ONE or TWO of these communiques could have been "lost", but EIGHT? And that's just the statements for which copies are retained. Several other reminders are mailed out for which copies are not retained.

Mr. Stackhouse...haven't we had enough of the truth being stretched in the barrage of presidential advertisements? Please...from here on out, accept responsibility for your personal transgressions. No more excuses. SP-EYE properly reported when you resolved the issue. The issue was closed until you re-opened it with your untrue claims.

Thanks very much to Committed Community Member", for the assist on this play.

There's Partial Truths and Then There's...

At the September 8th school board meeting, during the public input portion of the pool referendum discussion---which was approved, by the way---the issue of school board president David Stackhouse's tax delinquency earlier this summer came up once again.

Roger Fetterly had just finished trying to get the board to understand that these are difficult times in which to ask residents for more money. Fetterly commented the following:

"I don't think you realize the financial pain you're causing to the residents of the school district. We answered this question not that long ago. You had a referendum, and it failed. No swimming pool and no increase to the revenue limits. You want to increase borrowing by $3.9 million. We are already overtaxed."

Fetterly added that the Sun Prairie Area School District has a debt ($170M) higher than any other district in Wisconsin, except Milwaukee. "And you want to add more to it....You're overtaxing us." Fetterly said.

Fetterly reminded the board of the number of Sun Prairie Business that closed recently, including Herman's and Heckels. Noting that these businesses pay property taxes that the schools depend on, Fetterly commented to Stackhouse, "You understand about not paying taxes, right Dave?"

Stackhouse responded angrily that he "...had some financial difficulties but I corrected [the tax delinquency] as soon as I learned of it."

Actually, Mr. Stackhouse, that's not true...and you know it. SP-EYE received copies of Stackhouse's delinquent taxes on June 20, 2008. This information, secured directly from the Dane County Treasurer's office, shows a 3 year delinquency, with accumulated penalties and interest.

Certainly, Mr. Stackhouse knew about the tax delinquency LONG before he paid the full amount due in two installments this past July. I mean...seriously, folks....like it or not we all get in line to pay our property taxes every December. And NOT paying them means you don't get a tax credit on your income taxes, so it's not something one would just forget to do for 3 years.

It's exactly this kind of inaccuracy in public statements that underscores the lack of trust the public has for the school board. You want to get a referendum passed? You might want to start by telling the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.