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Beginning in the 1993-94 school year, the Wisconsin Legislature limited revenue increases for local school districts. Increases were set at an amount roughly equal to the rate of inflation in the prior year and based on the number of students in the district.
The 1993-95 state budget (1993 Wisconsin Act 16) imposed a five year limitation (1993-94 through 1997-98) on the total revenues school districts could raise through the combination of state general aid (equalization, minimum, integration and special adjustment) and the property tax. In his 1995-97 state budget bill, Governor Thompson proposed changes to the school district revenue limit which passed the Legislature and became WI Act 27. Changes to the revenue limit included making revenue controls permanent and adjusting the per pupil spending rate (up from $190 to $206).
Under the revenue controls, if a local school board concludes that it is necessary to spend in excess of the amount allowed, it is required to submit the proposed increase to referendum of all voters in the district. No other form of municipal government is forced to operate under such restrictions.
In 1997, a bi-partisan Legislative Council study committee was created to examine possible changes in the school aid formula. Legislative Council committees are established to research and deliberate on issues of significant importance which the Legislature intends to address during the regular session.
The special committee on the school aid formula was composed of Democratic and Republican Senators and Representatives, school district administrators, public citizens and representatives from taxpayer advocacy groups. WEAC President Terry Craney also served as a member. The bi-partisan committee completed action in May and recommended that the Legislature adopt several modifications to the revenue controls.
On Tuesday, June 3, 1997, the Joint Finance Committee recommended the following modifications to the revenue limits:
· Specify that if the three-year rolling average calculation of student population used for revenue limits results in a loss of membership for a school district then the district could retain 85% of the membership lost for the purposes of calculating its allowable revenue increase.
· Index the $206 per pupil revenue increase by the Consumer Price Index-Urban (CPI- U) to provide an inflationary increase in the revenue controls.
· Permit school districts to count 20% of their full-time equivalent summer school enrollment in classes taught by licensed teachers as part of the three-year revenue limit average, beginning with the enrollment count in 1998.
· Allow school districts to carry over 100% of the prior year's unused revenue authority.
· Repeal the current law provision which requires that if a service is transferred from one school district to another within the state, the decrease in the former district's revenue limit must be equal or greater than the increase in the latter district's limit.
The Wisconsin Education Association Council and the Wisconsin Federation of Teachers urge members to contact their legislators and discuss the issue of providing school districts relief from revenue controls.
Contact John Stocks or Bob Burke in the WEAC Government Relations Division at 800-362-8034 or 608-276-7711 or by e-mail at stocksj@weac.org or burkeb@weac.org with any reaction, comments or questions.
Updated June 12, 1997