Green Bay School Board elevates tax worries amid referendum, interviews head-hunting firms
GREEN BAY - One of the Green Bay School Board's main messages on Monday was your taxes can't go through the roof with the city's new property assessment.
As the district works to convince the public to vote for its $92.6 million capital referendum in November, it wants residents to know that their taxes can't double even if their property value did, said Sarah Noah, the district's executive director of finance.
But it also doesn't mean taxes won't go up.
The city released property assessment values last week, shocking many residents with their new home prices.
At a district referendum information session last week, some attendees said their property values jumped by almost $100,000.
MORE: Here's everything you need to know about Green Bay schools' $92.6 million referendum
MORE: Green Bay School District cuts millions as it works to reduce $36 million deficit
"The assessment from the city has kind of knocked us sideways," Board President Laura McCoy said.
But the school district doesn't use assessed property values for taxes. It uses fair market values, which is the agreed-upon price between a willing and informed buyer and seller.
Fair market value is determined by the state of Wisconsin on an annual basis and is separate from a city-wide assessment, which only has to be done to stay within 10% of the fair market values.
The district predicted an 8% fair market property value increase in its preliminary budget.
With the current housing market, "we have seen an unprecedented increase in our fair market value" of about 14.4%, said the district's CFO, Angela Roble.
Since the taxation formulas are so complicated, board member James Lyerly warns that residents can't do simple math to figure out how much they'll pay in taxes.
"You can't take your assessed value and do the math and come up with a shocking new tax amount," he said at the meeting.
That's because there is a limit to how much resident property taxes can increase. Plus, residents pay a proportion of the value of property in a municipality relative to other homeowners.
An increased property value does not alone cause a higher tax bill, according to the City Assessor's Office.
For an example of what your tax bill might look in light of the revaluation, visit the City Assessor's Office website and click the Revaluation FAQ link.
Course offerings for next year changed and the board joined a coalition supporting free school meals
Fourteen classes are to be removed from the middle and high school course offerings next school year and 12 are to be added.
The board approved four course changes, expanding some offerings such as the high school adaptive physical education assistant course and removing middle school bilingual courses from Franklin Middle and adding them to Washington Middle.
More: Green Bay School Board meeting ends abruptly after Superintendent Vicki Bayer has heart attack
The district also joined a coalition of other Wisconsin school districts and hunger advocates to support the Healthy School Meals for All Act. The act would provide free breakfast and lunch to all students regardless of income. It was introduced last legislative session by state Rep. Kristina Shelton, D-Green Bay, but failed to become law.
Interim Superintendent Vicki Bayer was not present at either meetings as she recovers from her heart attack earlier this month, and board member Andrew Becker was absent.
District commences superintendent search
Three potential head-hunting firms presented prior to the meeting, vying to conduct the district's next superintendent search.
All of the firms — BWP & Associates, McPherson & Jacobson LLC and the Wisconsin Association of School Boards — have an at least a two-year guarantee that if the superintendent they place leaves within two years, they will conduct a new search at little or no cost to the district.
Given former Superintendent Steven Murley's early departure from the district in April, the board is looking for a future leader who is in it for the long haul.
The board asked each of the three potential firms six questions. These have been edited for brevity and clarity.
What kind of research will be done by you to learn about our district and community, and how will you get that information?
How will internal and external stakeholders be involved with the search, and how will that stakeholder information be used to form a leadership profile?
How will the current political climate in Wisconsin affect recruitment, especially with candidates from outside the state, and how will you sell Green Bay?
What do you do to recruit diverse candidates of gender, ability, linguistic, racial and ethnic diversity? How successful have you been?
What criteria do you use to screen candidates, and do you present all candidate resumes to the board?
Do you take any steps to ensure a candidate stays longer than three years?
The board will pick a search firm by Oct. 10 with the goal of approving a contract by Oct. 24.
What are the potential head-hunting firms for the superintendent search?
The firm, located in Libertyville, Illinois, focuses on superintendents and other school leader searches. It has helped with searches in almost 40 states, including 19 school districts in Wisconsin.
One of its current clients is the Mukwanago Area School District outside of Milwaukee.
BWP & Associates provides assistance with specification of the skills needed for the next superintendent, recruitment of candidates, assessment of the candidates and selection.
Based in Omaha, Nebraska, this executive recruitment and development agency also focuses on education leadership searches and has placed over 750 superintendents and officials in public and nonprofit organizations, according to its website.
The agency touts that almost 80% of administrators hired over the last five years are in the position for which they were recruited, a key quality the school board is looking for in a firm.
It has placed leaders in 39 states, including seven in Wisconsin.
Wisconsin Association of School Boards
The Association is a nonpartisan public education advocacy group that school boards across Wisconsin can be members of. Among its different services for school boards are searches for superintendents and school board positions.
WASB works exclusively in Wisconsin having worked with districts similar to Green Bay like the Appleton Area School District.
How much could the superintendent search cost?
BWP & Associates ~ $44,750
$34,900 flat consulting fee
$350 for an online survey of stakeholders
$3,000-$3,500 office/administrative expenses
$2,000-$3,500 consultant travel
$2,000-$2,500 advertising
TBD candidate travel
McPherson & Jacobson LLC ~ $33,900 not to exceed
The agency provides a guarantee that costs will not exceed $33,900 for the search.
Wisconsin Association of School Boards ~ $16,200
The association said the price depends on what the board wants to do with the search process and whether extra recruitment elements are incorporated into the search.
Danielle DuClos is a Report for America corps member who covers K-12 education for the Green Bay Press-Gazette. Contact her at dduclos@gannett.com. Follow on Twitter @danielle_duclos. You can directly support her work with a tax-deductible donation at GreenBayPressGazette.com/RFA or by check made out to The GroundTruth Project with subject line Report for America Green Bay Press Gazette Campaign. Address: The GroundTruth Project, Lockbox Services, 9450 SW Gemini Drive, PMB 46837, Beaverton, Oregon 97008-7105.
This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Green Bay School Board talks taxes and interviews head-hunting firms
