2005 Referendum: Question 2 Fact Sheet

Question 2 - Exceeding the State Revenue Limits

The school district is asking voters to exceed the state revenue limits by up to $7.4 million beginning with the 2005-06 school year.
Using the 2005 average value of a home in Madison ($205,400), if the referendum passes, the school portion of the property tax will increase by $83 for the 2005-06 school year and will remain a part of the district's tax base into the future.
The Board of Education (BOE) has already agreed to cut $1.2 million from the district's "same services" or "cost-to-continue" budget for 2005-06.
Madison, like most school districts in Wisconsin, is annually confronted with having to cut its "cost-to-continue" budget in order to comply with state-imposed revenue limits. This year the "revenue cap gap" (the difference between how much the district can take from the property tax levy and the amount needed to continue the "same services" budget) is $8.6 million for Madison.
Revenue limits allowed the school district to increase its 2004-05 budget by about 2.5%, or $6 million ($242 x 24,793 students). However, state law also requires school districts to offer wage/benefit package increases of at least 3.8% (Qualified Economic Offer) to avoid arbitration. Education is extremely personnel intensive, and personnel costs account for 85% of the district's entire budget. The revenue limit law, the QEO, and under-funded state mandates (special education, bilingual) are the primary factors that require the district to annually cut its "cost-to-continue" budget.
With the BOE already committing to cutting $1.2 million, the "revenue cap gap" is $7.4 million ($8.6 million "revenue cap gap" minus $1.2 million in cuts).
Since revenue limits began in 1993, the school district has eliminated over 400 positions and cut nearly $38 million from its "cost-to-continue" budget; for a complete list, go to: http://www.madison.k12.wi.us/cuts.htm
Only once since revenue limits began 12 years ago has the BOE gone to referendum to exceed the revenue limits (June 2003) for continuing operations, and that year the BOE cut an additional $3 million. This was a one-time increase, and the following year the BOE cut $9.9 million from the "cost-to-continue" budget.
The district's English Language Learners (bilingual education) budget for the 2004-05 is $12.5 million. The programs are mandated by the state and federal government. The state provided $985,000 for ELL and the federal government, $325,619; combined, $1.3 million, or 11.2% of the total ELL budget. The remaining nearly 89% of the total ELL budget - $11.1 million - must be paid by the local property tax payers.
Special education costs for school districts were reimbursed by the state at a 45% rate when revenue limits began in 1993. As statewide special education enrollments increased, the state reimbursement percentage slipped annually; this year, the reimbursement from the state has dropped to 29%. Had the district received the same reimbursement rate for special education that it did in 1993, Madison would have received an additional $9.5 million. Instead, last year, in order to comply with revenue limits, the district cut over $9.9 million.
Without passage of the referendum, the district will have to cut $7.4 million from its "cost-to-continue" budget. While the following list is not all-inclusive, this would mean the elimination of:
- the Parent-Community Response department;
- the 4th and 5th grade strings program;
- two mental health workers as part of the school district-Dane County Mental Health Center partnership in conjunction with the Positive Behavior Support Teams;
- eight school building custodians;
- four psychologist/social work positions;
- the insurance risk manager position;
- two district-wide Talented and Gifted school-support positions.

Question 2
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