Too many trips to the well
There’s an old cliche people sometimes use about “going to the well too often.” The Spencer Board of Education may be thinking about that saying this week.
On April 6, district taxpayers voted 452-293 against the Board’s request to extend its current revenue cap exemption for one year, at a cost of $975,000. That decision came on the heels of approval of a 2019 referendum for approximately $3 million to finance construction of a new gymnasium, music space and other renovations, and a 2016 approval to start the annual $975,000 exemption for a 5-year period. On top of that, the Board made it clear that this exemption would be for just one year, and it planned to come back again in 2022 with yet another request for higher local taxes.
This time, that proverbial well was dry, and it may well have been because there have just been too many attempts to scoop water from it.
The Board, in our opinion, seemed justified in asking this time for only a 1-year cap exemption because of what it says are uncertainties with the financial data needed to make an accurate long-term projection of coming monetary needs. Rather than ask for more or less money than might actually be required over the next four or five years, the Board decided to just cover a year’s needs and go from there. With that came a near-promise that another referendum would be coming in April 2022.
We don’t know if “referendum fatigue” is a common term, but it looks to be the case here. If another vote were to be held in Spencer next year, that would make for four in seven years. Given that some folks are struggling from COVID-19 pandemic fall-out and others are just sick of checking the “yes” box every time more money is requested, it’s not surprising that this vote failed.
But ... and yes, there’s always a but. Just because this vote went down, it doesn’t mean there won’t be another, and, in all probability, the likelihood of a 2022 cap exemption question is all but certain. The situation in which a school district’s allowable revenue is inadequate to cover operating expenses doesn’t just disappear because of last week’s results, so now the Board and administration have to figure out how it will cover 2021-22’s expenses. With state laws now limiting when a district can conduct referendums, Spencer will not have another chance for a full year, so it will be going through next year with $975,000 less on the revenue side of the ledger. It likely will have some fund balance to use to offset the loss, but then it risks problems if unexpected costs arise.
School districts in Wisconsin shouldn’t take the blame for conducting repeated referendums. They are just playing the hands they were dealt by state lawmakers. What this issue comes down to is whether or not local taxpayers are willing to pay more over time to keep their schools running -- and in this time of open enrollment -- doing so competitively so as not to lose students, and more state aid dollars.
With Spencer residents tired of playing the game, the district now has to decide how to proceed. Unfortunately, more referendum votes are about the only way forward, unless state funding formulas are changed.
