Abigail Shimniok

The upcoming April 2 ballot will include an operating referendum for the Platteville School district.
In an interview with the Exponent, Jim Boebel, the Platteville School District superintendent, spoke about the referendum. “The referendum is a question,” Boebel stated, “and that question is, ‘can we recover funds above and beyond what the state provides to serve our kids?’”
The operating referendum differs from a capital referendum as the school district is not requesting money for school construction or maintenance, but instead to perpetuate the current level of service provided to Platteville area students.
This type of referendum has become more and more common in Wisconsin as many districts struggle to secure funding from the government to maintain schools. Out of the 421 school districts in Wisconsin, a quarter of them have had operating referendums on their ballot within the past five years.
Part of the reason why many districts struggle to obtain funding is because their budget comes from mostly local and state government with very little, if any, income at the federal level.
Wisconsin used to provide districts with money that was tied to the Consumer Price Index, which adjusted for the cost of living. However, in 2010, Wisconsin unpaired the two and failed to raise the revenue provided to school districts to match the rate of inflation.
This has caused the revenue to lag by more than $3,380 per pupil in the last 15 years. With over 1,500 students in the Platteville school district, this means the district is left without the $5,070,000 that would have been provided to the schools by the state if the state still gave funding that matched with the CPI.
The operating referendum would provide the Platteville School District with $10,500,000 over the next five years before expiring in the 2028-2029 school year.
The maximum tax impact per year of this referendum is an increase of $0.54 per $1,000 fair market property tax for the next five years. This means that a property with a fair market value of $100,000 would expect to see an increase in the annual property tax by about $54 per year.
Boebel expressed the importance of UW-Platteville students to not only vote, but also to make an educated and informed decision on what they are voting on.
More information about the referendum is available at the Platteville School District’s website: www.platteville.k12.wi.us/page/operatingreferendum