Stevens Point School Board considers spring referendum to address growing deficit

STEVENS POINT − The Stevens Point Area Public School District is hoping voters will approve a referendum this spring to help the district address an anticipated $5 million deficit for the 2023-24 school year. That deficit is expected to grow to about $10 million in the next four years without a successful referendum.

The School Board took its first steps in planning for the referendum question regarding ongoing operations costs at its Monday meeting.

“It’s important that we secure adequate funding if we’re going to continue to maintain a high-quality education for our students,” Superintendent Cory Hirsbrunner said during the meeting.

In the last year, the school district has taken measures to evaluate and address cost savings, according to district staff, but rising costs for things such as utilities and employee compensation have prompted the district to pursue an operations referendum. Those cost savings measures included transportation cuts, staff reductions and other savings in unfilled positions, according to a district budget evaluation document.

An informational slideshow from Monday's meeting can be found on the school district website.

The last time the district sought a referendum was in 2018, when it asked voters to approve a $3.5 million increase for school operations and $75.9 million for construction and maintenance projects. They both passed with nearly 70% support.

Although the 2018 operations referendum allowed the district to increase the tax levy by $3.5 million, a decrease of more than 200 students in the district during the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a loss of roughly $2.5 million in state aid during that same period. A recent Wisconsin Policy Forum analysis highlighted an over 32,000-student decrease statewide since the 2020-21 school year.

District staff presented two options for increasing its levy limit, or the amount it can ask for through taxes, by either $12 million or $14 million.

The lower option would "maintain" current teachers and staff, educational programming, mental health supports, elementary school budgets, security infrastructure, technology and building maintenance. The higher option would "enhance" the district by also adding advanced learning opportunities, programming for students with high needs, offer more child care options, offer more employee benefits and "address systemic-level academic underperformance" through program review, the district budget evaluation document said.

Both proposals phase in the increase over two years to limit taxpayer impact. The district plans to seek input on and create one proposal prior to the Dec. 11 School Board meeting.

“Taxpayers don’t like it when their taxes go up and down. Our goal here is to keep it level as much as we possibly can,” Hirsbrunner said.

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Either option would generate a $26 tax increase per $100,000 of property value during its first year. The $12 million option would result in a $47 increase in taxes per $100,000 of property value in the second year and onward, while the $14 million option would result in an $82 increase per $100,000 of property value in the second year and beyond.

Both options would keep Stevens Point tax rates for schools well below both the state average and other local districts, according to a budget evaluation document. The district would maintain the new levy limit moving forward, but it is not required to ask for the maximum amount from taxpayers every year.

Starting Thursday, the district will conduct phone polling to gather feedback from a randomized and representative group of local residents on their priorities for the district's budget. The poll will be conducted through the end of the month and survey results will be presented to the School Board in November.

A hearing on the current year’s budget is expected to be held Oct. 23, and the November meeting, in which the board will consider both the survey results and feedback from staff, is planned for Nov. 13.

Erik Pfantz covers local government and education in central Wisconsin for USA-TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin and values his background as a rural Wisconsinite. Reach him at epfantz@gannett.com or connect with him on Twitter @ErikPfantz.

This article originally appeared on Stevens Point Journal: Stevens Point School Board considers referendum to address deficit