Everything to know about the MPS referendum on your ballot April 2
At the polls April 2, Milwaukee voters will be asked to raise their property taxes to increase funding for Milwaukee Public Schools.
Here's what to know.
What is a referendum?
A referendum is a question on a ballot. School districts in Wisconsin use referendums to ask voters for permission to raise property taxes to provide more school funding, exceeding caps set by the state.
Many school districts are relying on referendums to avoid major budget cuts, as state caps haven't adjusted for inflation. About 82% of Wisconsin's school districts have turned to referendums in the past three decades, according to Forward Analytics. And nearly a quarter are doing so this year, state data show.
How much will taxes go up if the MPS referendum passes?
Milwaukee property owners would pay an additional $2.16 per $1,000 of property value, according to projections from MPS.
For a $100,000 home, that's an increase of $216. For a $200,000 home, it's an increase of $432.
The referendum would bring the total property tax rate for schools to $10.10 per $1,000 of property value. For a $100,000 home, that's a total schools tax of $1,010. For a $200,000 home, it's $2,020.
According to MPS, the referendum would not cause additional tax hikes after the first year. That's partly because state funding is expected to cover more of the burden of the referendum after the first year. According to the Wisconsin Policy Forum, it's also because MPS expects enrollment to continue declining, which reduces how much it can tax.
For a deeper dive on these estimates, check out the Forum's March 11 report.
Where would the MPS referendum money go?
The referendum would allow MPS to mostly maintain its current operations.
Without a referendum, MPS is projecting that it will face a $200 million budget shortfall in the next school year because of rising costs, including inflationary raises for staff. That projection assumes the district will be able to fill most of its vacant positions. It also absorbs the cost of staff who have been funded by federal pandemic-relief aid, which is ending.
The referendum would plug most of that $200 million hole. It would allow MPS to gain an additional $140 million for the next school year. In future years, the referendum allows MPS to collect more, ramping up to the 2027-28 school year, when MPS will be allowed to raise an additional $252 million annually from the referendum.
In case the referendum fails, each school principal has been told to prepare to cut their budgets by 13%, and the district's central office has prepared for a 27% cut. If the referendum passes, schools would receive an average 11% increase to their budgets to cover inflationary staff raises and other rising costs.
Without the referendum, MPS officials say they would have to cut hundreds of staff positions from schools, including about 307 teachers and 96 paraprofessionals. That includes at least 30 art, music, physical education and library media positions.
As of Tuesday, the district had about 200 teacher vacancies. Those positions wouldn't necessarily be the first to go, as some of those positions could be more critical than positions that are currently filled.
Why does MPS need another referendum after the 2020 referendum?
Milwaukee voters previously approved a referendum for MPS in 2020, with support from 78% of voters. The district will continue collecting $87 million annually in perpetuity as a result of that referendum. MPS has used those funds for recruitment, increasing salaries, and funding teaching positions in kindergarten, music, physical education, art and other specialties — though it has had trouble filling many of those positions.
That referendum helped the district shoulder the squeeze between rising costs and conservative state lawmakers. If state lawmakers had raised caps on school funding to keep up with inflation over the last 15 years, MPS officials estimate the district would be getting an extra $210 million each year, about $3,380 per student.
Thanks to the 2020 referendum, the district got about $13,366 per student this year in core funding, which includes funding under its revenue limit and state categorical aid. That's slightly above the inflation-adjusted amount it got 20 years ago, about $13,319 per student, according to the Wisconsin Policy Forum.
That doesn't necessarily leave the district in a financially secure place. Nicole Armendariz, communications director for MPS, said the district has had to use its core funding to pay for a larger portion of costs for special services that used to be covered more by separate federal and state funds, including those for students with disabilities, English language learners and students in poverty. State funding for special education, for example, now only covers about a third of the cost.
At the same time, MPS doesn't have as many students as it used to. That's partly because there are fewer children in the city, and partly because of the growth of non-MPS schools, like independent charter schools and private schools that get tax-funded vouchers. When students leave MPS, the funding goes with them.
What are the criticisms of the referendum?
Some critics of the referendum have said MPS should have made more budget cuts, including closing schools, before turning to taxpayers for more money.
The number of students in MPS has dropped by about 32% since 2004, according to calculations by the Wisconsin Policy Forum. The district has reduced its footprint from a peak of 178 buildings in 2008 to 150 buildings as of 2022, the Forum found. Some schools are operating over capacity, while others are under capacity, according to a report MPS gave lawmakers last year.
The district is in the process of updating its long-range facilities plan, but that isn't expected to be complete until October, officials said at a meeting this month. The Forum called that process "a welcome move but arguably one that should have occurred before the upcoming referendum so that any savings yielded could be factored into the district’s fiscal forecast."
The district appears to have made more significant reductions in staffing. The Forum pointed to district financial reports that show the number of MPS instructional staff dropped by about 37% between 2004 and 2022. That includes teachers, principals, counselors, librarians and supervisors.
Some critics have also called for a clearer picture of the district's deficit and how the referendum funds would be spent. MPS has not provided districtwide details about the cuts that it would make without the referendum. For details on its deficit projections, see the Policy Forum's March 11 report.
Who's for and against the MPS referendum?
All school board members voted in favor of placing the referendum on the spring ballot, except Darryl Jackson, who voted against it, and Aisha Carr, who abstained and later came out against it.
Here's who has supported the referendum:
The Vote Yes for MPS campaign, which has reported spending about $277,000 this year as of March 18, with another $206,000 in the bank that could be used in the remaining days before the election. Its largest benefactor was the MPS union, with other major contributions from Black Leaders Organizing for Communities, Leaders Igniting Transformation and the state Democratic Party.
Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers, Milwaukee's mayor and county executive; and most of Milwaukee's Democratic state lawmakers
Other community organizations: Leaders Igniting Transformation, Black Leaders Organizing for Communities, Voces de la Frontera, Youth Empowered in the Struggle, Common Ground, Citizen Action of Wisconsin, Power to the Polls Wisconsin, Planned Parenthood, and several labor organizations.
Here's who has opposed the referendum:
Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce, which has spent over $400,000 on its "Enough is Enough" committee opposing the referendum.
Milwaukee attorney Dan Adams, who registered a committee campaigning against the referendum, Milwaukeeans for Affordable Housing. It reported spending about $25,000 as of March 18.
CFC Action Fund, City Forward Collective's partner 501(c)(4) organization, provided communications services for MMAC's committee and a voter list for Adams' committee. Colleston Morgan Jr., executive director of City Forward Collective, said an error on the MMAC group's finance report listed City Forward Collective as a contributor when it should have listed CFC Action Fund.
Additionally, the Greater Milwaukee Committee published a statement Monday saying that it was "unable to support" the referendum, criticizing a "lack of transparency surrounding this referendum and the failure to clearly articulate a measurable plan."
More: MMAC and teachers union spend big in battle over MPS referendum
See something missing from the story? Have unanswered questions? Contact Rory Linnane at [email protected].
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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Everything to know about the MPS referendum on your ballot April 2
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