SCHOOL TAX LEVY

It is ironical that during this season of festivities and gift giving that the property tax bills arrive at our homes. What a gift! This year, however, the bill should be less because the Richland School District’s levy is going down by 17.2%. The decrease is due to the high school debt being completely paid on April 1, 2010. There is one more payment on the athletic fields and technology referendum, so next year the District will be debt free.

To learn more about school taxes, take a look at the Focus, the newsletter from the Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance. There is a comprehensive discussion of school taxes, and the Richland School District is featured as one of the Top Ten Districts with the largest decrease in levy. Out of the ten districts, Black Hawk (-27.4%) had the largest levy decrease and Florence (-9.9%) the smallest. We were right in the middle with a 17.2% levy decrease.

Fifteen years ago when the high school was being built no one planned for today’s sluggish economy. During the years, the Board had planned to go to referendum when the debt was paid so that some facilities improvements could be made. However, the Board decided the time was not right for additional financial burden for the taxpayer. Hence they made the decision to indefinitely postpone a referendum.

In order to help make ends meet in the district, we have made reductions when student enrollments have decreased. Also, we have applied for and received more grant money and more federal money. The school district receives approximately 26% of its revenues from local sources, 71% from state and federal sources and the remaining 3% from other sources, such as gate receipts. These sources do not include the School Levy Credit, which is state money that goes directly to the municipality and appears on the tax bill.

The future of school district funding is up in the air right now, and many ideas are being discussed. No one is exactly sure what, if any, changes may occur once the new governor and legislature takes office. Many experts are saying there is not enough money to operate government and schools the way we have in the past. School finances appear to be quite a challenge as the New Year arrives. One thing for which we should be grateful is that our debt is getting paid off just in time for some of the pending changes.

If you have questions, please call the office at 647-6106 or check the district website at www.richland.k12.wi.us.