How much of your Brown County tax dollars are going to private schools? More and more every year.
GREEN BAY ― When Brown County residents get their tax bills, they see that they owe money to their town, the county, the technical college and their local public school district. What's not listed is how much of their money is actually going to private schools through the school voucher program.
Instead, the money going to private schools is listed as one payment to the public school district the taxpayer lives in.
Here's how the school voucher program works
In Wisconsin, taxpayer dollars fund private schools through voucher programs, which support private school enrollment for students of certain income levels through state-subsidized tuition payments, or vouchers. There are three programs in Wisconsin, but the Wisconsin Parental Choice Program funds students who live outside of Milwaukee or Racine.
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There's also a cap on how many students can get vouchers. This year, it's capped at 7% of the home public school district's enrollment. The number of students who can get a voucher increases by 1% every year until the 2026-27 school year when the cap will be lifted.
As the enrollment cap increases every year, the amount taxpayers put toward the voucher program increases as well.
Specifying how much of the amount they pay for schools goes toward private school vouchers on residents' tax bills would add transparency, especially as the funding for vouchers increases, said Lori Blakeslee, the Green Bay School District spokesperson.
All private schools getting vouchers from the Wisconsin Parental Choice Program get the same amount of funding per student: $8,399 for kindergarten through eighth-graders and $9,045 for freshmen through seniors in high school, according to the state Department of Public Instruction. The amount is determined each year by a statutory funding formula.
DPI estimates this year's program will cost $141,700,000 in taxpayer dollars statewide, not including the Milwaukee and Racine programs, to send 17,079 students to private schools.
The funding public schools get per student varies depending on the district's revenue limit and average membership.
"Average membership" measures the number of students who attend a full day of school or a half day ― instead of a general headcount ― over the last three years. Revenue limits cap how much money districts can raise via property taxes each year and is different from district to district because it's based, in part, on enrollment changes and past spending.
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This year, the Green Bay School District is getting $10,005 per student this year in state aid and property taxes. In Howard-Suamico, the district is getting $9,946 per student, and De Pere is getting $10,225.
Private schools in Wisconsin don't have the same public oversight that public schools do. They don't have to have a school board that oversees public dollars or abide by Wisconsin open meetings laws, unlike public schools.
This is how much of your tax dollars go to private schools in the Green Bay area:
Here's how much of your tax bill goes to private schools in Green Bay
This year, the district is paying $8.9 million into the voucher program to support an estimated 1,055 students, according to the district's chief financial officer, Angela Roble.
By comparison, in the 2018-19 school year, 647 students were getting vouchers, costing the district $4.8 million.
Four years ago, the enrollment cap for the voucher program was set to 3% of the home district's enrollment.
What would that cost a Green Bay homeowner?
With the district's current tax rate of $8 per $1,000 of equalized property value, 73 cents per $1,000 goes toward funding vouchers.
A homeowner with house valued at $250,000 would contribute $183 in taxes to the voucher program, though it's listed on their tax bill as all going to the Green Bay School District.
In the 2018-19 school year, 54 cents of the district's $10.01 tax rate went to vouchers. A resident with that same $250,000 home would have paid $135 into the voucher program.
Residents now pay 35% more per $1,000 valuation of their property toward vouchers than they did four years ago.
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Here's how much of your tax bill goes to private schools in De Pere
The Unified School District of De Pere will pay $655,807 toward vouchers this year for an estimated 72 students, according to DPI data. The district wasn't able to provide past years' data on how many students it supports with vouchers.
In De Pere, the tax rate is $5.49 per $1,000 of equalized property value; of that amount, 22 cents per $1,000 goes to vouchers.
A homeowner whose house is valued at $250,000 would pay $55 of their tax bill to vouchers.
During the 2019-2020 school year, the tax rate was $8.30 per $1,000 of equalized property value, with 10 cents per $1,000 going to vouchers. For a $250,000 home, a resident would have paid $25 of their tax bill toward vouchers, 120% less than they do now.
Here's how much of your tax bill goes to private schools in Howard-Suamico
The Howard-Suamico School District will pay $712,709 into the voucher program to send an estimated 81 students to private school this year. Four years ago, the district paid $224,372 for 28 students.
For Howard-Suamico residents, the school district's tax rate is $8.69 per $1,000 of equalized property value, with 19 cents per $1,000 going toward vouchers.
A homeowner whose house is valued at $250,000 would pay $48 dollars of their tax bill to the voucher program.
Back in the 2018-19 school year, the tax rate was $9.19 per $1,000 of equalized property value, with 8 cents per $1,000 going toward vouchers. A resident would have paid $20 into the program for that $250,000 home.
Howard-Suamico residents contribute 140% more to private schools in their area today than they did in 2018.
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Which Green Bay area private schools get these public dollars?
To take part in the voucher program, students must submit proof of their residency to determine which taxpayers will pay for their vouchers. These are the schools and the number of students that receive public voucher dollars in the Green Bay area based on the DPI's enrollment numbers from the first Friday in September.
All Saints Grade School, Denmark
Five students on vouchers
100% of total enrollment
Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary School, Pulaski
37 students on vouchers
54% of total enrollment
Bay City Christian School, Green Bay
206 students on vouchers
74% of total enrollment
Green Bay Adventist Junior Academy
23 students on vouchers
68% of total enrollment
Green Bay Area Catholic Education East
387 students on vouchers
55% of total enrollment
Green Bay Area Catholic Education South
84 students on vouchers
10% of total enrollment
Green Bay Area Catholic Education West
112 students on vouchers
21% of total enrollment
Green Bay Trinity Lutheran School
52 students on vouchers
41% of total enrollment
Northeastern Wisconsin Lutheran High School, Green Bay
41 students on vouchers
28% of enrollment
Notre Dame de la Baie Academy, Green Bay
205 students on vouchers
28% of total enrollment
Pilgrim Lutheran School, Green Bay
73 students on vouchers
30% of total enrollment
Saint Clare Catholic School, Wrightstown
20 students on vouchers
50% of total enrollment
Saint John Evangelical Lutheran School, Wrightstown
Eight students on vouchers
13% of total enrollment
Saint John Paul II Classical School, Green Bay
55 students on vouchers
35% of total enrollment
Saint Mark Lutheran School, Green Bay
55 students on vouchers
29% of total enrollment
Saint Paul Lutheran School, Green Bay
42 students on vouchers
29% of total enrollment
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 Dr, PMB 46837, Beaverton, Oregon 97008-7105.
This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Here's how much in taxes Brown County residents pay for private school
