Milton could see district tax jump
About the budget process
The Milton School District will present a preliminary budget to the public at an annual meeting Monday, Aug. 17.
Residents vote on the preliminary budget at the annual meeting, but the district isn't bound by that vote, Business Manager Dianne Meyer said.
The district doesn't finalize its budget until October. In the meantime, it will learn its 2009-10 enrollment, which will affect its state aid. It also could settle on a teacher contract in that time, which would tell the district how much to budget for teacher salaries.
The preliminary budget assumes enrollment stays flat.
MILTON — The Milton School Board knows residents won't be happy with a 10 percent levy increase, but it doesn't think it has much choice.
The district will present a preliminary budget with the 10 percent increase—the maximum it can levy under state law—to the public at its annual meeting in August.
Board members say the state is forcing them to raise taxes with its budgeting policies.
"I feel like I have a knife held to my throat," member Al Roehl said. "You're damned if you do, damned if you don't."
The district is damned if it does raise taxes because it will upset taxpayers. It's damned if it doesn't raise taxes because then it will have to make major cuts to education and face less state aid in future years.
"There's no getting around controversy this year," Superintendent Bernie Nikolay said.
The state has funded two-thirds of public school budgets in past years, but it changed the funding formula in the 2009-11 budget. As a result, Milton will receive an estimated 2.3 percent, or $500,000, drop in general aid next year.
In previous years, state aid has increased every year to cover cost increases.
The decrease in state aid and interest income combined with expected increases in teacher salaries, sanitation fees and other costs resulted in a projected $1.2 million shortfall, assuming the district taxes to the maximum, Business Manager Dianne Meyer said.
Meyer and other district administrators erased the $1.2 million by making across-the-board cuts, she said. Many of the cuts came from contingency fees the district usually builds into the budget.
If the district doesn't increase the levy as much as it can, it will have to cut even more, Meyer said.
School districts face revenue limits, not levy limits, from the state. That means if the state cuts aid, districts can increase levies to make up the difference.
Under the formula, the district can increase its tax levy by $1.1 million in 2009-10, a 10 percent increase over this year's levy, Meyer said.
Assuming property values stay flat, that would result in a mil rate of $8.09 per $1,000 of valuation, up from $7.35 per $1,000 in 2008-09.
If the district doesn't increase the levy as much as the state allows, it will lose state aid next year, Meyer said. She used this analogy to explain why: Say the state expects the district to spend $10 this year, and it gives the district aid based on that amount. If the district spends only $8, the state will give the district aid next year based on $8 instead of $10.
"It sounds like if we don't do this (levy to the maximum), we're almost mortgaging our future," said board member Jon Cruzan.
Just because the board includes a maximum levy increase in its preliminary budget doesn't mean it will keep the increase in the final budget, board members said. The district doesn't approve its final budget until October, after it knows enrollment and final state aid.
Board members said they'd rather present a budget with a large levy increase and lower it later than present a smaller levy that they increase later.
Jul 23, 2009 at 5:14 p.m.
Suggest removal
Hold on folks! Someone REALLY needs to ask the question... What happened to the $1,000,000 (yes that's one million) plus Milton had "left over" at the end of June 2008 and supposedly put in the bank to spend this last school year?
“Leftover” money has been getting progressively worse the last several years, with 1 million plus left unspent the last two years in a row. Without stretching the imagination, one might think the school district has been over taxing their residents!
Every summer we hear this gloom and doom story about not having enough money. Then come June, gosh, they always seem to have LOTS of money leftover. So much for fiscal responsibility!
I pity the school board. They’ll have to make some tough decisions in the weeks to come. If I were them I’m not sure I’d trust any numbers coming out of their business office.
ww
Jul 22, 2009 at 1:58 p.m.
Suggest removal
in answer to jimlyke's original question:
that law allows a district to go back and collect un-accessed tax levy dollars from the previous school year -- but it does not change how the revenue limit is calculated. The revenue limit calculation in a subsequent year always begins with the previous year's collected revenue.
Jul 22, 2009 at 11:44 a.m.
Suggest removal
janesvillean- Probably not, but it makes me feel better.
I like to think of it as common sense tactics. Although there's nothing common about that these days.
Jul 22, 2009 at 11:44 a.m.
Suggest removal
I'm not sure how many times this needs to be defined, but here goes again:
+
The City of Milton is the city proper (inside city limits).
+
The TOWN of Milton is the township (mostly rural areas with subdivisions) outside the city proper.
+
Two different areas and two different jurisdictions.
Jul 22, 2009 at 11:40 a.m.
Suggest removal
Whoops! I meant "Yeah, spark, 'she' must've"--.
My apologies.
Jul 22, 2009 at 11:09 a.m.
Suggest removal
biggirl, you're thinking of the Town of Milton policing issue.
.
spark, you reactionaries are so cute. You keep using the same scare tactics for decades! Do you still think they work?
Jul 22, 2009 at 10:25 a.m.
Suggest removal
The City of Milton is not covered by Rock County Sheriff's department. Only when called for assistance.
.
Yeah, Spark, must've had a bad experience with them.
With all the drug (herion) problems, robberies, etc., that have taken up much of the 1st of the year, let's just go ahead and get rid of the local law enforcement.
Yeesh!
Jul 22, 2009 at 10:19 a.m.
Suggest removal
puffer- With the new President, you're going to paying for a lot of things you don't use. It's called socialism.
Jul 22, 2009 at 10:17 a.m.
Suggest removal
naturespaces - do you think that the fees for kids participating in activities should be paid for by the taxpayers? What gets under my skin is paying for extra school activities when I don't even have kids. Kids are expensive, and that is nothing new. If you can't afford them, then don't have them. Parents should bear the brunt of what it costs to have kids, not the taxpayers.
Jul 22, 2009 at 9:59 a.m.
Suggest removal
Hey, big surprise. Biggirl wants to cut the police force. Anything to get back at the big bad police. That is not one of the smartest ideas considering crime has increased dramatically.
Jul 22, 2009 at 9:50 a.m.
Suggest removal
We need a new way of funding schools. Every year it is the same thing over and over. No matter what the school, there always seem to be budget shortfalls, more cuts, and increased fees.
Fees really get under my skin. I can not imagine having school aged children again, and having to dish out $100+ in fees per kid on top of back to school clothes & supplies, taxes you already pay, and the other costs associated with raising children. I can not imagine this and I was pretty well off when my kids were in school. What about those that are not in the position I was in? There has to be a better way! I have a sister in Texas who agrees they may not have as high quality of education, but they seem to have more schools than we do cattle. They not only have more schools, but they seem to have no problem building new ones as the population grow. The schools they have are high tech, new or newer, and she said there is never talk of budget cuts.
Why is that?
Jul 22, 2009 at 9:41 a.m.
Suggest removal
They just keep finding ways to raise taxes and increase fees. I say we revisit the idea of cutting the police force, a force which is literally redundant since policing is covered by Rock County.
Jul 21, 2009 at 8:32 p.m.
Suggest removal
I wonder if MSD had a zero base budgeting system instead of the current baseline budgeting. They wouldn't have the need to ratchet up each year the budget but have to justify all expenses instead of just the percentage increase from last year.
Jul 21, 2009 at 6:59 p.m.
Suggest removal
At $8.09 per thousand, the mill rate in Milton is still well below most other area districts.
2008-09 rates (latest available):
Janesville - $8.29
Clinton - $10.23
Evansville - $10.24
Whitewater - $8.80
Fort Atkinson - $9.20
Turner - $9.89
Below the 2009-10 figure for Milton, but above $7.35 for 08-09 are:
Edgerton - $7.71
Beloit - $7.64
Source: https://www2.dpi.state.wi.us/safr_ro/all...
Jul 21, 2009 at 6:13 p.m.
Suggest removal
A law was passed a few years ago that school districts would no longer be penalized in future state aid calculations, if they decided not to tax to the maximum allowed by the state. Did that law get repealed or expire?
Before you post a comment, consider this:
Note: GazetteXtra.com does not condone or review every comment. Read more in our User Policy AgreementPost Comment
Commenting requires registration.