Status Quo Costs More: Madison Schools' Administration Floats a 7.38% Property Tax Increase; Dane County Incomes down 4.1%.... District Received $11.8M Redistributed State Tax Dollar Increase last year. Spending up 6.3% over the past 16 months

The Madison School District Administration (217 page 7.41MB PDF)

The Madison Metropolitan School District's proposed 2013-2014 balanced budget provides resources for a sound education for the district's children.
The proposed 2013-2014 balanced budget continues to put resources where they are most needed in the classrooms.

Total spending under the balanced budget is $392,807,993 which is a decrease of $70,235 or (0.02%) less than the 2012-13 Revised Budget. The change to the revenue limit plus other fund increases or decreases comprises the entire proposed budget. The property tax levy would increase by $18,385,847 or 7.38% to $267,675,929.

The total MMSD 2013-14 balanced budget includes many funds. A fund is a separate set of accounting records, segregated for the purpose of carrying on specific activities. A fund is established for accountability purposes to demonstrate that financial resources are being used only for permitted purposes. The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction specifies the various funds required to be used by Wisconsin school districts.

A few useful links:

The January, 2012 budget document mentioned "District spending remains largely flat at $369,394,753" (2012-2013), yet the "baseline" for 2013-2014 mentions planned spending of $392,807,993 "a decrease of $70,235 or (0.02%) less than the 2012-13 Revised Budget" (around $15k/student). The District's budget generally increases throughout the school year, growing 6.3% from January, 2012 to April, 2013. Follow the District's budget changes for the past year, here.

Meanwhile, via a kind reader, Wages for Dane County and Wisconsin workers fell, latest federal figures say

The average weekly wage for workers in Dane County fell by 4.1 percent between September 2011 and September 2012, the first decrease for the third quarter in at least a decade and a touch greater than the state average, according to newly released data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Dane County workers made an average of $842 weekly in the third quarter of 2012, down $36 from the same time period a year earlier. It was the 12th-biggest drop in terms of percentage among Wisconsin's counties.

Statewide, wages fell 2.65 percent to an average of $770 per week. That was the fourth-biggest loss among states by percentage. Nationally, Wisconsin ranked 35th among the states for wages, down from 33rd for the third quarter in 2011.

The data also show that Wisconsin ranked 44th nationwide in job creation for the private sector, but while job creation has dominated news coverage here owing largely to Gov. Scott Walker's pledge to create 250,000 new jobs during his term, stagnant wages have been a longstanding concern.

Finally, should Madison, Wisconsin and federal taxpayers spend more for ongoing disastrous reading results?

The defunct "citizen's budget" was an effort to create an easily comparable annual two page document, rather than the present 217 pager.

"Censorship through complexity" - Assange

Posted by Jim Zellmer at April 19, 2013 4:28 PM
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