K-12 Tax & $pending climate: A “no” on the city of Madison 2024 November Referendum
Soglin opened the news conference at the Park Hotel noting that the room contained an array of “unconnected” folks who are “connected by their concern for the city.” Audience members included former Alds. Nino Amato, Dave Ahrens and Dorothy Borchardt; Lisa Veldran, who led the city council office for 30 years; and Alex Saloutos, a real estate agent and staunch opponent of the referendum who recently started a blog where he addresses city issues.
Soglin, who has publicly denounced his various successors over the years, has ramped up his criticism of Rhodes-Conway and her administration this past year. In November 2023 he wrote a guest column for Isthmus arguing that Madison was facing a fiscal crisis “unprecedented in scope and depth.” And in recent months he has railed on Facebook against the referendum, charging that Rhodes-Conway and the council have been fiscally irresponsible and have failed to adequately engage lawmakers to increase state funding. But Wednesday’s news conference signaled that opponents were moving more aggressively and collectively to defeat the referendum in the final weeks before the vote.
Sam Munger, Rhodes-Conway’s chief of staff, questioned whether Soglin, who lost a bid for reelection against Rhodes-Conway in 2019, was preparing for another run for mayor.
Premature and Unjustified: Madison’s Referendum to Permanently Increase Property Taxes.
For example, the $23.2 million men’s homeless shelter and the $397.4 million BRT system were approved without operating budgets, including the sources of funds to operate them.
Inadequate oversight of human services grants. There is inadequate oversight of human services funding, with tens of millions of dollars disbursed to local providers each year without appropriate policies and sufficient monitoring of their use.
Madison’s spending is rising more quickly than its main revenues.
But Madison leaders have known of a growing budget deficit for years. In 2021, the mayor’s proposed budget projected an $18 million to $20 million shortfall by 2023 — even with pandemic-related funding to help balance the books.
Yet, the Madison City Council approved 5% and 6% raises for city employees in 2023 and 2024, respectively. The 2023 increases, which included public safety employees, cost about $7.2 million. This year’s pay raises added $4.9 million in costs for general municipal employees and $3 million for public safety employees, city figures show.
About $14.6 million of the anticipated $22 million deficit next year can be traced to labor costs, such as raises, health insurance and other fringe benefits, said Jason Stein, president of the nonpartisan research group Wisconsin Policy Forum.
While the city’s pay raises are not out of character for the rate of inflation, property tax collections aren’t keeping pace with the growth in wages, Stein said.
Even more reason to vote against both MMSD spending referenda: State government ended its fiscal year with $4.6 billion surplus — over $800 million more than expected.
And:
MMSD expends $20,380 on each student, well above the $16,345 average among Wisconsin’s public schools.
• Because Madison taxpayers approved seven referenda over the last 25 years to jack up operating revenue, the Wisconsin Policy Forum finds, “MMSD’s funding has still held up better than school funding across Wisconsin. In 2023, the revenue limit for Madison schools was 17.8% higher than the state average for all districts.”
• In fact, MMSD in 2024 has the second-highest revenue limit per pupil among the state’s 10 largest districts. “Compared to their peers at other large urban districts, MMSD students do not stand out for having higher needs,” according to the WI Policy Forum.
• Madison does have the second-highest share of students learning English and the fourth-highest share of students of color among those ten districts, but enrolled the fourth-lowest rate of economically disadvantaged students and third-lowest rate of students with disabilities, according to Policy Forum authors Jason Stein and Tyler Byrnes.
• Public schools account for 49% of the $7,757 annual property tax for the median Madison residence. If approved, the average homeowner can expect to pay an extra $1,049 in property taxes as the spending is phased in over four years — and forever after.
Sort of related by Mike Bloomberg:
There are government boondoggles, and then there’s NASA’s Artemis program.
Former Madison mayor and local leaders urge ‘No’ vote on property tax referendum, criticize city’s fiscal strategy
Madison’s well funded k-12 system and city government are seeking substantial 607M+ tax and spending increases via referendum this fall.
Madison taxpayers of long supported far above average K – 12 spending.
The data clearly indicate that being able to read is not a requirement for graduation at (Madison) East, especially if you are black or Hispanic”
My Question to Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers on Teacher Mulligans and our Disastrous Reading Results
2017: West High Reading Interventionist Teacher’s Remarks to the School Board on Madison’s Disastrous Reading Results
Madison’s taxpayer supported K-12 school district, despite spending far more than most, has long tolerated disastrous reading results.
“An emphasis on adult employment”
Wisconsin Public Policy Forum Madison School District Report[PDF]
WEAC: $1.57 million for Four Wisconsin Senators
Friday Afternoon Veto: Governor Evers Rejects AB446/SB454; an effort to address our long term, disastrous reading results
Booked, but can’t read (Madison): functional literacy, National citizenship and the new face of Dred Scott in the age of mass incarceration.
When A Stands for Average: Students at the UW-Madison School of Education Receive Sky-High Grades. How Smart is That?
