(The Center Square) – A Wisconsin bill would eliminate the option of schools passing recurring operation referendum and would limit the length of time for a nonrecurring operational funding referenda to four years.
The bill’s sponsor told the Wisconsin Assembly Committee on Education that the goal was to have school districts prove how the funding is improving the outcomes for students and not allow increased funding over a longer period of time that isn’t regularly approved by taxpayers.
“With declining enrollment levels, I question the necessity of these operating referendum,” said. Rep. Cindi Duchow, R-Delafield. “By eliminating the recurring referenda and limiting the nonrecurring referenda, I hope to foster fiscal responsibility in Wisconsin school districts.”
Duchow pointed to Milwaukee’s $252 million recurring referendum in 2024 that passed by less than 2,000 votes and permanently increased the taxes levied for the district.
“I wish I could tell you Milwaukee was an outlier but it’s emblematic of the state of referendums across the state of Wisconsin,” Duchow said.
Duchow said that, since 2015, $870 million in recurring referenda have been passed across the state.
Duchow said that approving long-term referenda can lead to a situation where those that move into a district are paying taxes for a referenda they didn’t vote to approve for long into the future at a time when attendance across Wisconsin is declining and schools are closing.
There were 67,000 graduating seniors in Wisconsin schools this year while there are 52,000 students in first grade, Duchow said, meaning that schools will have 22% less students in years to come.
She said that she believed that means that the financial reality for school districts amid that declining enrollment will change rapidly, so having long-term referenda that doesn’t change with the lower enrollment does not make sense.
