Pioneer Press 2/24/07 TwinCities.com
Wisconsin property taxes will go up under Doyle's budget plan
SCOTT BAUER
Associated Press
MADISON, Wis. - Gov. Jim Doyle promised to reform the way the state pays for its schools in his first election bid, pleasing educators who backed his campaign.
But with no major reforms in his first term, Doyle has introduced a budget plan for the first half of his second that allows more local spending and is projected to result in an average property tax increase of at least 5 percent.
That may be the best that could be expected with the state facing a $1.6 billion shortfall, but it won't satisfy school officials or taxpayers, said Miles Turner, executive director of the Wisconsin Association of School District Administrators.
"I don't think anybody's going to be happy," Turner said. "That's the problem."
School property taxes, on average, account for 40 percent of the total tax bill sent each year to homeowners. Put simply, if the state gives schools less money, they can raise property taxes within revenue limits more to pay teachers, maintain buildings and meet other expenses.
Doyle's budget recommends an increase in school aid of 1.7 percent the first year, starting July 1, and 1.6 percent the second year.
The Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance projects that under that plan property taxes will increase 5.6 percent on bills mailed in December, compared with an estimated 3.3 percent hike on the bills due this year and a 2.3 percent increase the previous year.
Doyle's budget office says the increase will be less - 5 percent this year and 3.9 percent next year. It predicts the taxes on a median-valued home will increase $75 the first year and $26 the second.
The Wisconsin Education Association Council, the state's largest teachers union, and groups representing school boards and school administrators have called for school finance reform. A study group was launched after Doyle was elected in 2002, but so far, no major changes have been made.
Still, WEAC President Stan Johnson said he doesn't think Doyle has gone back on his call for reform.
"He hasn't let us down," Johnson said, noting that his budget does the most it can for schools given the state's financial condition.
But there must be a serious discussion about school funding reform after the budget is passed, he said.
Doyle favors targeted reform but believes the current formula is working, his spokesman Matt Canter said. The governor's proposal makes some changes while helping hold down property taxes, he said.
"What the governor has offered is some flexible, targeted reform especially in the areas he feels are most critical," Canter said.
Doyle's budget does make small positive changes to the way schools are funded, said Andy Reschovsky, a member of the school funding study group and a professor of public affairs and applied economics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
"Maybe it's overly dramatic to say it's like moving chairs on the deck of the Titanic," he said. "The changes in the governor's budget that have to do with school reform are in the right direction. Are they going to be revolutionary? No."
While Doyle didn't propose a major overhaul, he renewed his twice-rejected call for the elimination of the qualified economic offer, a requirement that teacher salaries and benefits rise no more than 3.8 percent a year.
Supporters say the limits have helped schools keep property taxes down since they don't have to come up with extra money to pay teachers higher raises. But critics say the raises allowed aren't enough and usually get eaten up by rising costs of benefits.
Doyle also is proposing a minimal increase in money for schools, allowing additional spending outside of revenue caps on items such as school safety and loosening the cap on municipal property taxes from 2 percent to 4 percent.
The revenue cap, at its simplest, determines how much money a school gets, from the state and property taxes, based on a per-pupil cost that is adjusted for inflation each year. Any school that wants to exceed the cap has to seek voter approval to get more money from property taxes.
Critics argue the cap chokes schools and limits their ability to provide quality programming as they are forced to cut class offerings and extracurricular activities.
"In the end, a major overhaul of the finance formula of the state of Wisconsin is necessary," Turner said.
But that requires "political will," he said.
"At this point," Turner said, "I'm not sure that the Legislature and even many of the citizens of this state realize how precarious the situation is for public schools in this state."
Wisconsin property taxes will go up under Doyle's budget plan
SCOTT BAUER
Associated Press
MADISON, Wis. - Gov. Jim Doyle promised to reform the way the state pays for its schools in his first election bid, pleasing educators who backed his campaign.
But with no major reforms in his first term, Doyle has introduced a budget plan for the first half of his second that allows more local spending and is projected to result in an average property tax increase of at least 5 percent.
That may be the best that could be expected with the state facing a $1.6 billion shortfall, but it won't satisfy school officials or taxpayers, said Miles Turner, executive director of the Wisconsin Association of School District Administrators.
"I don't think anybody's going to be happy," Turner said. "That's the problem."
School property taxes, on average, account for 40 percent of the total tax bill sent each year to homeowners. Put simply, if the state gives schools less money, they can raise property taxes within revenue limits more to pay teachers, maintain buildings and meet other expenses.
Doyle's budget recommends an increase in school aid of 1.7 percent the first year, starting July 1, and 1.6 percent the second year.
The Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance projects that under that plan property taxes will increase 5.6 percent on bills mailed in December, compared with an estimated 3.3 percent hike on the bills due this year and a 2.3 percent increase the previous year.
Doyle's budget office says the increase will be less - 5 percent this year and 3.9 percent next year. It predicts the taxes on a median-valued home will increase $75 the first year and $26 the second.
The Wisconsin Education Association Council, the state's largest teachers union, and groups representing school boards and school administrators have called for school finance reform. A study group was launched after Doyle was elected in 2002, but so far, no major changes have been made.
Still, WEAC President Stan Johnson said he doesn't think Doyle has gone back on his call for reform.
"He hasn't let us down," Johnson said, noting that his budget does the most it can for schools given the state's financial condition.
But there must be a serious discussion about school funding reform after the budget is passed, he said.
Doyle favors targeted reform but believes the current formula is working, his spokesman Matt Canter said. The governor's proposal makes some changes while helping hold down property taxes, he said.
"What the governor has offered is some flexible, targeted reform especially in the areas he feels are most critical," Canter said.
Doyle's budget does make small positive changes to the way schools are funded, said Andy Reschovsky, a member of the school funding study group and a professor of public affairs and applied economics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
"Maybe it's overly dramatic to say it's like moving chairs on the deck of the Titanic," he said. "The changes in the governor's budget that have to do with school reform are in the right direction. Are they going to be revolutionary? No."
While Doyle didn't propose a major overhaul, he renewed his twice-rejected call for the elimination of the qualified economic offer, a requirement that teacher salaries and benefits rise no more than 3.8 percent a year.
Supporters say the limits have helped schools keep property taxes down since they don't have to come up with extra money to pay teachers higher raises. But critics say the raises allowed aren't enough and usually get eaten up by rising costs of benefits.
Doyle also is proposing a minimal increase in money for schools, allowing additional spending outside of revenue caps on items such as school safety and loosening the cap on municipal property taxes from 2 percent to 4 percent.
The revenue cap, at its simplest, determines how much money a school gets, from the state and property taxes, based on a per-pupil cost that is adjusted for inflation each year. Any school that wants to exceed the cap has to seek voter approval to get more money from property taxes.
Critics argue the cap chokes schools and limits their ability to provide quality programming as they are forced to cut class offerings and extracurricular activities.
"In the end, a major overhaul of the finance formula of the state of Wisconsin is necessary," Turner said.
But that requires "political will," he said.
"At this point," Turner said, "I'm not sure that the Legislature and even many of the citizens of this state realize how precarious the situation is for public schools in this state."
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