Lack of teacher contract costly in Milton
MILTON — The lack of a teachers contract could end up costing Milton School District taxpayers this year.
District business manager Dianne Meyer is estimating the district’s tax levy will increase 12.6 percent in 2008-09, even though the district isn’t adding or changing any programs. She estimates the tax rate will increase 7.3 percent to $8.11 per thousand.
District voters will get the chance to vote on the preliminary budget at the annual meeting Monday, Aug. 18.
The increase all comes down to teacher contracts and state aid, Meyer said. The district set aside money for an increase in teacher salaries for 2007-08, but it didn’t spend that money because the teachers and district didn’t agree on a new contract.
To the state, it looks like Milton took in more money than it spent last year, so the state will give the district less aid in 2008-09, Meyer said.
The funding loss isn’t permanent: If the district settles on a contract in the next school year, the district will pay out the salary money it set aside, she said. It will then get more state aid in 2009-10 because it will look like the school spent more than it took in for 2008-09.
There’s still a chance the district won’t lose the state aid this year if the district and teachers come to an agreement before Oct. 1, Meyer said.
The teachers have been working under an expired contract since July 1, 2007. The two sides are scheduled to meet with a mediator Thursday, Aug. 21.
“Hopefully, when we meet with the teachers and we have our mediator present, we can get a settlement,” Meyer said.
The teacher contract is one of four unknowns in the preliminary budget proposal, Meyer said. The other three are:
-- Enrollment. The district has been growing by about 100 students a year for the last three years, but it doesn’t know how local layoffs will affect the student population, Meyer said.
-- Property values. Meyer created the budget proposal assuming the district will see a 5 percent increase in property values this year.
-- State aid. The amount of state aid the district will get isn’t final yet.
The district will get a clearer idea of its financial situation in the fall before voting on a final budget in October.
A look at the preliminary 2008-09 budget for the Milton School District:
Total budget
2008-09 $33 million
2007-08 $31.5 million
Increase 4.7%
Tax levy
2008-09 $13 million
2007-08 $11.6 million
Increase 12.6%
Tax rate
(Per $1,000 of valuation)
2008-09 $8.11
2007-08 $7.56
Increase 7.3%
Note: Percent changes calculated on whole numbers.
IF YOU GO
What: Milton School District annual meeting.
When: 6:30 p.m. Monday, Aug. 18.
Where: Northside Intermediate School, 159 Northside Drive, Milton.
Aug 6, 2008 at 2:02 p.m.
Suggest removal
I'm increasingly disgusted at the leadership in Milton. I'm not sure what's happening. If you look at a number of things they are doing across the board, it seems that they are following plans that were made before this recession: public work plans, plans for a new high school, increases in assessments based on pre-crash numbers, etc. Milton's elected officials need to step up and resolve these issues now. Go back to the drawing-board on a number of these issues, from public work plans to the plans for a new school to the teacher's contract. Since we are so attached to Janesville, we need to consider all of our projections to. Is it still the case that growth will continue? What will happen to our tax base? I'm for tightening our belt but making sure that we retain and can replace the best teachers.
Aug 6, 2008 at 8:06 a.m.
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The "slow start" to which I referred was not something that was done as a "strategy move". From what I understand, the teachers had a lot of new faces on their negotiating team, and needed to get themselves organized - so they didn't really get started with negotiations until last September (could have started in May of '07).
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One item to note: Milton teachers did agree to change health insurance in June of '07, but the Board waited until September to make the change. That was done by the teachers as an act of good faith to "speed up the process" and get that very divisive issue off the table. So that part of the contract is done and in effect - but there have been no salary increases since 2006.
Aug 5, 2008 at 10:49 p.m.
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Rocky - Do you honestly believe teachers would be slow in negotiations if this directly determined their salary and benefits? I am not sure of any job where the workers are flippant enough not to push forward on a new deal/contract.
Aug 5, 2008 at 9:25 p.m.
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Rocky I completely agree with you with one exception. The board has been the one refusing to talk to the teachers and stalling negotiations and using a very expensive lawyer at taxpayer expense, the teacher have tried to work out a contract from day one. Now you have upset teachers entering their second school year with no contract. Unfortunately the teachers will probably get the blame from the public because they are seen as the problem, which is inaccurate. In addition the taxpayers in the Milton School District are getting an increase in their taxes with no added services or benefits. Citizens need to stand up to their elected officials and tell them they need to sit down and get to an agreement with the teachers in the district so we don't have this happen again next year.
Aug 5, 2008 at 6:24 p.m.
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The "people in charge" have all left and been replaced. The teachers were slow to get going on the negotiations and the Board refused to talk, except through a highly-paid attorney. They need to take a lesson from Janesville and dump the attorney and just sit down and hash it out.
Aug 5, 2008 at 4:56 p.m.
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Maybe they should do what Governor Schwarzenegger did in California. He cut the state workers wages to minimum wage until he gets the budget.
Aug 5, 2008 at 12:58 p.m.
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This would of never happened if Sue Johnson was at the helm! She was a good lady for the district.
Aug 5, 2008 at 11:41 a.m.
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who in the world is in charge of this school district? how could you let negotiations go on so long that you get a cut in state aid. who is doing the negotiations for the board and how come they couldn't have been in charge of this?
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