MONROE - The Monroe school board is calling on state legislators to reject two bills introduced this spring that would end recurring referenda previously approved by Wisconsin voters to increase their local school districts' budgets, including one passed in Monroe in 1998.
The bills, state Assembly Bill 268 and Senate Bill 195, target districts' ability to bolster their base revenues indefinitely for a specified amount with the consent of area voters. If approved and signed by Gov. Scott Walker, the bills would limit any future school referenda to five years - ending local authority to hold a recurring referendum - and, after five years, would end those that were already passed before the bills took effect.
"I really question the legality of the legislature having the right to usurp the will of the people after it's already been passed," board member Les Bieneman said Monday. "I see this, if it goes through, ending up in court."
Under the proposal, Monroe would lose its own recurring referendum, worth almost $800,000 annually, passed in 1998 to pay for maintenance, heating and other continued costs for facilities that were created then, including the high school's Performing Arts Center, according to board president Bob Erb.
"As with a lot of people, I'm not ever crazy about paying more taxes," Erb said, "but I mean this has been built into our tax base since 1998, almost 20 years, and it's ... it's basically saying, well the people back in '98 really, really didn't understand what they were voting for."
Treasurer Dan Bartholf noted legislators have shrunk the public education budget over the last five years while saying districts could ask local voters to make up for it with additional funding - an idea that elicited laughter from Erb.
"Apparently you cannot," Erb said. "Too many of the communities are saying 'yes, you know, we like to have better schools.'"
"And now they're (legislators) starting to change the rules again," Bartholf said.
By taking away this aspect of local control over school funding, districts that are already struggling financially will suffer most, board members said.
Using a draft created by the Wisconsin Association of School Boards, Monroe's new district administrator, Richard Waski, provided a resolution against the two bills for the school board to adopt at its meeting Monday. Several more bills were introduced this year that seek to limit how districts can exercise their referendum authority, Waski said, but the two addressed by the resolution would be the most damaging to Monroe.
The resolution calls on Walker; Sens. Howard Marklein, R-Spring Green, and Jon Erpenbach, D-Middleton; and Reps. Todd Novak, R-Dodgeville, and Sondy Pope, D-Mt. Horeb, to oppose the bills.
It passed 8-0 on a voice vote. Nikki Matley was the only board member absent from the meeting.
Vice president Mary Berger thanked Waski for bringing the issue to the board and for providing something members could take action on right away. Monday was Waski's first board meeting since he officially took over the position vacated June 30 by Cory Hirsbrunner.
The bills, state Assembly Bill 268 and Senate Bill 195, target districts' ability to bolster their base revenues indefinitely for a specified amount with the consent of area voters. If approved and signed by Gov. Scott Walker, the bills would limit any future school referenda to five years - ending local authority to hold a recurring referendum - and, after five years, would end those that were already passed before the bills took effect.
"I really question the legality of the legislature having the right to usurp the will of the people after it's already been passed," board member Les Bieneman said Monday. "I see this, if it goes through, ending up in court."
Under the proposal, Monroe would lose its own recurring referendum, worth almost $800,000 annually, passed in 1998 to pay for maintenance, heating and other continued costs for facilities that were created then, including the high school's Performing Arts Center, according to board president Bob Erb.
"As with a lot of people, I'm not ever crazy about paying more taxes," Erb said, "but I mean this has been built into our tax base since 1998, almost 20 years, and it's ... it's basically saying, well the people back in '98 really, really didn't understand what they were voting for."
Treasurer Dan Bartholf noted legislators have shrunk the public education budget over the last five years while saying districts could ask local voters to make up for it with additional funding - an idea that elicited laughter from Erb.
"Apparently you cannot," Erb said. "Too many of the communities are saying 'yes, you know, we like to have better schools.'"
"And now they're (legislators) starting to change the rules again," Bartholf said.
By taking away this aspect of local control over school funding, districts that are already struggling financially will suffer most, board members said.
Using a draft created by the Wisconsin Association of School Boards, Monroe's new district administrator, Richard Waski, provided a resolution against the two bills for the school board to adopt at its meeting Monday. Several more bills were introduced this year that seek to limit how districts can exercise their referendum authority, Waski said, but the two addressed by the resolution would be the most damaging to Monroe.
The resolution calls on Walker; Sens. Howard Marklein, R-Spring Green, and Jon Erpenbach, D-Middleton; and Reps. Todd Novak, R-Dodgeville, and Sondy Pope, D-Mt. Horeb, to oppose the bills.
It passed 8-0 on a voice vote. Nikki Matley was the only board member absent from the meeting.
Vice president Mary Berger thanked Waski for bringing the issue to the board and for providing something members could take action on right away. Monday was Waski's first board meeting since he officially took over the position vacated June 30 by Cory Hirsbrunner.