Comparison shows district delivers good value to taxpayers
By Ed Nadolski
Editor in Chief
When some Burlington Area School District residents rallied late last summer against a property tax increase proposed by school district officials, the rallying cry was that the district wasn’t doing enough to hold the line on taxes.
Keep in mind that this was the first district budget after Gov. Scott Walker’s reforms – now known as Act 10 – were in effect. The governor told people throughout the state that his reforms would give school districts the tools to offset unprecedented cuts in state aid to school districts.
When BASD proposed the tax levy increase, many simply assumed the district wasn’t using those tools and/or it wasn’t doing a very good job of managing taxpayer funds.
The subject of district finances even ended up on a conservative Milwaukee radio talk show as an example of local officials failing to save taxpayers money through the full use of the governor’s Act 10 provisions.
A series of contentious public meetings followed, with the school district eventually passing the tax levy as proposed with the support of an overwhelming majority of district residents attending a public electors meeting in late October.
However, the perception of fiscal mismanagement, at least to a certain degree, continues to fuel debate as the April 3 School Board election approaches.
Perception vs. reality
So how does that perception stack up against reality and has BASD been a good steward of your tax dollars in recent years?
To answer that question, the Standard Press examined readily available information comparing area school districts’ recent taxing and spending habits.
The bottom line: BASD ranks near the bottom for both the tax rate needed to support the school budget and for the amount of money it spends per pupil – hardly the reckless tax-and-spend approach that some people seem to believe.
But it’s also true that the district did not fully use the provisions of Act 10, meaning there was additional potential to limit the tax increase. District officials did require staff members to make half of their retirement contributions (cutting their take-home pay 5.8 percent) and switched insurance plans, requiring them to shoulder higher deductibles and co-pays. The district did not, however, require staff members to make contributions (up to 12.6 percent as allowed under Act 10) toward the cost of insurance premiums.
Officials have said – in light of the fact they used the tools of Act 10 to save approximately $1 million by switching insurance carriers, require teachers to make retirement contributions and pay higher insurance deductibles – that it would be unreasonable and damaging to the relationship with teachers to saddle staff members with further cuts to their take-home pay.
District officials contend they’re doing their best to maintain BASD as attractive to top-notch teachers while still reserving the option to require insurance premium contributions in the future as finances dictate.
Nevertheless, that point remains a subject of debate within the community.
Crunching the numbers
To get a better understanding of the district’s fiscal performance, it requires a closer examination of the big picture.
Let’s look at the numbers.
Figures provided by BASD and confirmed by data compiled by the state Department of Public Instruction, show Burlington ranked 21st of 23 area districts for tax rate for 2011-12 and 20th for cost per student for 2010-11, which is the most recent data available (see graph accompanying this story).
The BASD tax rate of $10.17 per $1,000 of equalized property value is lower than 20 other local districts. Only the Bristol K-8/Westosha H.S. district ($10.04) and the Delavan-Darien K-12 district ($9.70) are lower. The Wheatland K-8/Wilmot H.S. district had the highest tax rate in the area at $12.99.
When it comes to cost per pupil, BASD checks in at 20th with a figure of $10,736. Norway elementary/Union Grove H.S. tops the list at $13,591 and Salem K-8/Westosha Central H.S. is at the bottom ($10,216).
The comparison includes all the school districts in Burlington High School’s athletic conference as well as all the school districts in Racine and Kenosha counties, excluding Racine Unified and Kenosha Unified – large urban school districts that have little in common with Burlington.
Two other districts – Linn/Badger of Lake Geneva and Geneva/Badger of Lake Geneva – were also excluded from the comparison for validity sake. Those districts had by far the highest cost per pupil at $17,266 and $14,503, respectively. However, because of the highly valued property surrounding Geneva Lake, their tax rates were much lower than all the others at $8.79 and $8.19, respectively.
The school districts included in the comparison by the Standard Press provide a good commonality of factors for small municipality/rural areas.
Many unified districts
This area of the state is somewhat unique in that it has a disproportionate number of unified districts – districts in which the elementary schools that feed into a high school are separate taxing entities rather than part of a K-12 entity.
For the purpose of this tax comparison, the rates for unified elementary districts were combined with their respective high school district rates to reach the final figure. It could be argued that unified districts don’t realize the same economies as K-12 districts, but it is simply the reality for most school districts in the area.
Among the three K-12 districts in the comparison – Burlington, Elkhorn and Delavan-Darien – Burlington is in the middle for both tax rate and cost per pupil (see graph).
While Burlington is among the lowest for tax rate, it was in the minority of districts that imposed a tax increase for 2011-12.
Of the 23 districts compared, 16 had tax rate decreases for the current school year, six had increases and one was flat.
BASD’s rate hike of 41 cents was second highest behind Dover K-8/Union Grove H.S., which had a rate increase of 78 cents.
Larry Anderson, a longtime School Board member who is known for his knowledge of school financing issues, said he believes many people have formed a negative opinion of the school district based on last year’s tax hike, rather than looking at its overall financial performance.
He explained that BASD – by virtue of the fact that it is a declining enrollment school district that hasn’t taxed to the fullest of its levy limit – is now penalized by the school funding formula.
“The governor was right in total (about the impact of Act 10 on school districts), but it’s not hitting individual districts the same,” he said, explaining that BASD is among the unfortunate school districts that will have greater difficulty overcoming the cuts in state aid.
“It’s awful hard to get anyone not connected with (school financing issues) to understand that,” he added.
In the end, he said, many people have simply latched on to the fact that the district raised taxes this year rather than looking at the district’s complete financing picture.
However, even with this year’s tax increase factored in, the Standard Press’ analysis indicates the Burlington Area School District is still among the best in the area for delivering education at a good value to taxpayers.
Next week: We’ll examine why the district is facing the perfect storm of financial pressures and why tax increases, program cuts or a combination of the two are anticipated next year.
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This story is presented as if “school finance” is different or should be considered differently from general finance.
So private schools that add essentially nothing to the tax levy offer by far the best value to the community? One variable used to draw a biased opinion? Somebody slept through quantitative research and journalistic ethics in college. (we’ll see if this one gets printed 2-1 odds)
Imagine what the student/cost would be if the Burlington
District asked the teachers to pay for their health insurance like the rest of us do. Going halfway with savings is not satisfactory.
The first action to take is to have the teachers pay a portion of their health insurance. It is not an unreasonable request by any means. Most people pay 20% or more along with high deductibles and copays. They should be greatful to only pay 12.6%. Get that process over with because it is inevitable that it will happen anyways.
I would like to see area school/student performance be included with these comparisons.
It’s a shame that people are not choosing to invest in education and our future. I am a conservative person, but whole heartedly believe we as a nation need to invest in our children and I proudly pay taxes toward that.
Slash away, Burlington. Then all the quality educators and good families will move to better school districts. Then Burlington will be full of people that don’t care about education and all that will be left is trash.
Concerned, BASD is one of very few districts that did not make the contribution to insurance mandatory. So unless they move to another state it will be similar anywhere. If they move to Illinois their check will soon bounce. I am quite sure even with having to contribute to their pension and insurance the profession will still attract many. They still have it better than most people. The sob story doesn’t work with 90% of people especially other public employees. It’s amazing how there are many public employees but probably the best off ones are complaining the most.
I graduated with a business major 6 years ago and during my tenure at college was toying with the idea of getting a degree in education. Today I am very happy I did not go with the education route. A friend, who graduated the same year as I did with an education degree, is now making $20,000 less than me plus (she is in a different school district) is contributing quite a bit more to her pension and her insurance. Why would college students want to go into education when there are hardly any benefits to it left? The only people getting the raw end of this deal is our children and grandchildren. There will be no quality educators left. If you think contributing to insurance and pensions is the answer, than we need to increase our educators’ salaries, which costs money as well. Otherwise, when my kids are adults and China owns us, we will be too stupid to know what to do or how to handle it.
Does your friend work 12 months a year like you do? Does your friend get home at 4:00 or 5-6 o’clock. Do you have spring break, xmas break? Do the math you’re probably not far off in salary considering hours worked.
My father was a music educator. I RARELY saw him in the summer because of the hours he was putting in with competitions, practices, etc. What about coaches and all the hours they put in? (I get that they get stipends for these jobs, but you and I both know it’s not a lot). Also, because of their lower salaries, many educators have to take second jobs in the summer. I do have a Christmas break and 4 weeks PTO. I absolutely hate when people play the ‘8 weeks off’ in summer card. It’s just not a valid arguement.
The comparison of one overfunded/overpaid local government entity justifies overfunding/overpaying another.
What a FALSE argument! How about paying what the Community can reasonably afford – and what is fair to the Residents.
Well, we couldn’t have that because Teachers would be getting a lot less money.
My Mother taught me about this stuff when I was a kid – “If everyone jumped off the Bridge – would you?
Why do Politicians and Teachers ask us to do what others do – jump off the Bridge, even when it isn’t appropriate for their Community – or, worse yet, it’s destroying the Community they are comparing you to.
By that argument, Tim, you would also be saying that teachers should NOT necessarily have to contribute to premiums simply because everyone else did. Oh, by the way, what seems to keep getting lost in the whole premium issue? BASD didn’t ask teachers to contribute “when everyone else did” because BASD went with cheaper health insurance and not the state-sponsored plan – saving more than $1 million dollars. Why doesn’t anyone ever mention THAT?