News and information for staff members and the Madison community
Vol. III No. 4 - April 3, 2008
Due to the stronger-than-expected development of three special taxing urban areas, the Madison School District will receive a one-time $5.7 million payout that essentially negates the need to make cuts for the 2008-09 budget.
As a result, the administration will be presenting in early April to the Board of Education a budget that reflects no cuts and, in fact, a planned surplus of approximately $300,000.
"The amount and timing of this payout closes the budget gap for the 08-09 budget," said Superintendent Art Rainwater. "However, it's a one year benefit only; we will have a multi-million dollar revenue cap gap for the 2009-10 budget."
Due to state-imposed revenue caps established in 1993, the Madison district has cut over $60 million through staff and service reductions. For the 2007-08 budget, that amount was $7.9 million.
The gap between current funding and what the state would allow the MMSD to receive for next year was projected to be more than $4 million.
This is where the unexpected funding comes in.
Two of the Tax Incremental Finance (TIF) districts that the City of Madison created (one in 1995 and other in 2000) experienced such strong development that they exceeded the amount of money needed to pay for land improvements and infrastructure. After a TIF district recovers all the costs incurred, state law says that the TIF district has to be closed and dissolved, and the excess funding must be distributed to its taxing bodies.
A total of $11 million from the three TIF districts was voted on by the Madison City Council to be distributed to the Madison School District, Dane County and Madison Area Technical College. The MMSD portion is $5.7 million.
Thus the payout covers the gap, relieving the immediate pressure on next year's budget, which reflects the cost of maintaining all of this year's services.
The administration's budget to the Board also proposes using a portion of the revenue to pay off some of the district's short term debt.
Because the TIF payout affects only the 2008-09 budget, the Board of Education voted in October to begin planning for a referendum to fund the following three school years.
The Board will receive the administration's proposed budget on April 4. They will hold two public hearings on the budget:
In past years, the Board has approved the budget in mid to late May.
Last Updated: Mon Apr 28 14:59:36 2008
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