School Information System: Severson / McKenna on Negative Aid, Local Media Coverage of Schools and the Referendum

November 2, 2006

There were some interesting items in today's conversation between Don Severson and Vicki Mckenna [13.7MB mp3 audio file]:

A caller (29 minutes): "Why does the rest of the media have such complacency with the Schools?" Don noted the lack of negative aids discussion in Monday's "very long" Wisconsin State Journal article. The caller raised a good question.
$10.95 of the 29.21 annual average property tax payment for the referendum is "negative aid", ie money local property taxpayers must pay over and above the referendum cost due to the MMSD's spending above state revenue caps. In other words, the more the MMSD spends above the revenue caps, the more state aid it loses and therefore local property taxes have to make up the difference. Some states refer to this as a "Robin Hood" Act.