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Background: In 1993 the state has put revenue limits on school districts that do not keep up with the inflation rate. The caps are put to an adjusted 2.6% increase per year which cannot keep up with the annual teacher salary and benefit increase of 3.8 percent annually. Due to 85% of school budgets being used to pay for personal, it has become a disaster for districts to keep up.

2002: Referendum

Background: This referendum that was first introduced at the end of 2001and was not popular with the citizens in Altoona. Many tax payers were not in favor of raising property taxes whatsoever, while others who rejected the plan did it because of ethical problems within the district that had risen in recent months. These problems lead to the resignation of Superintendent Craig Hitchens and to a deviation in the media away from the issue of the referendum and to a greater focus on problems within the district management. Many felt the referendum was dead in the water in early spring, yet officials decided on a special referendum in late May. This could have been the political move the district needed to pass the bill. The extra month gave the district time to reorganize their efforts, and the date of the election favored those to come out who felt strongly about the plan and lead many who were undecided to stay home, leading to a sweeping vote in favor of the referendum in May.

Favor:

1. Cuts would be detrimental to the quality of Education

2. Quality programs would be cut

3. More kids would have to walk to school

4. Fear that once certain programs were cut they wouldn’t come back

Oppose:

1. Those living on fixed income would have hard time paying

2. People didn’t trust the figures on how much the district would have to cut

3. Salaries and Benefits (which were the most of the increase) were too high

4. Many tired of raising property taxes

5. Decrease in trust with district after ethical problems caused a rift between the Superintendent and School board President

Main Reason for Increase:

1. Less State funding

2. More state Mandates on Special Education

3. Increase in Teacher Salaries/Benefits of 3.8 % per year with the State covering 2.8%

Quotes:

Favor: “If it fails we are going to have a domino effect on our budget and the programs we can provide,” school board President Ed Bohn said on May 19^th 2002 from the Leader Telegram

Against: “Meanwhile, a rift between some board members and Superintendent Craig Hitchens clouded the referendum issue.” May 19^th 2002 from the Leader Telegram

“Some residents said they don’t support the referendum because of dissention in the district in recent months. Others said they are tired of raising property taxes.” May 19^th 2002 from the Leader Telegram

Outcome:

· Large majority in Favor of Referendum

· Many felt it was a quick turnaround in support was due to a more aggressive approach to selling the referendum. Ideas such as grandparent’s day were events that gave officials the ability to talk to hundreds of people and try to gain support. May 22^nd 2002 from the Leader Telegram

· Because of the Special election held, those who most invested and interested in the referendum showed up leading those who remained apathetic to not attend the election. This could account for high margin of victory. May 22^nd 2002 from the Leader Telegram

2005 Referendum

Background: Only three years after the 2002 referendum passed allowing the district to exceed state spending caps by 500,000 dollars per year for four years, the district came back to the tax payers. The District decided on a new referendum for the next four years that would cost a total of 4.5 million dollars. This time the district would face a strong opposition to the tax increase. Media coverage over this increase remained much more negative and many people wrote in opinion articles and advertised against the increase. Many people felt that the district was asking too much and that they were over spending in general on services. Even so the district remained largely optimistic due to the large vote in favor for the previous referendum three years prior. In the end the voters rejected the proposal with a two to one margin. Many in the district were surprised on the large turnout against their proposal, and the district was forced to cut 622,000 dollars from the following year’s budget.

Favor:

1. Less after school programs will take affect

2. Less electives

3. Less Teachers

4. Less Bus Service

5. District would have to cut 251,500 over next two years

6. Healthcare increases were not keeping up with state funding

Oppose:

1. Cost was too much

2. Taxes would hurt those on fixed incomes/ small business

3. Teacher salaries/benefits were too high (totaling $65,000)

4. Too much money was going to employee salaries/benefits (85%)

5. The district was being wasteful with its money and didn’t deserve more money

Quotes:

Favor: “Overall, the proposed cut backs would mean larger class sizes and fewer course offerings for students, Fahrman Said” In a February 6^th 2005 article from the Leader Telegram.

Oppose: “the average salary of a teacher is $65,000, working no more than 188 days a year. Taxpayers, what is your average salary? How many days a year do you work?” From Meri Beier in a March 31^st 2005 letter to the editor in the Altoona Star

Outcome:

· Large Majority voted against the referendum

· District and supporters of the referendum were caught off guard with the large margin of defeat.

· People in general were worried about tax increases only three years after the referendum and felt that the school district was wasting too much money on salaries and unnecessary items.

· The overall negative media and poor political campaign by the district which failed to address any concerns citizens had in the local media ensured a large defeat

2006 Referendum

Background: A year after the large defeat the Altoona School District came back to the voters on April 4^th for a 3.9 million dollar referendum that would allow the district to exceed revenue caps by $975,000 per year for the next four years. The district and referendum supporters learned their lesson from 2005, they stepped up their efforts to get the referendum passed through a terrific campaign and media blitz that would last up until the election. Many volunteers worked to sway public opinion to favor the referendum and many more took out a wave of ads in the local Altoona Star newspaper to show their support. This time the media was paying attention and it was mostly positive coverage of the referendum, which is surprising considering how close the final vote came. Overall the public showed a greater sense of concern over what might happen to the level of education in the city of Altoona, and felt the impact of previous cuts from 05’ failed referendum. The referendum passed by an extremely small number of votes, only twelve. Altoona remains a city that was skeptical over the districts spending and uneasy about rising tax rates, even through all the positive media coverage.

Reasons to Favor:

1. Smaller than the 2005 referendum proposal

2. Cuts would be more dramatic including many teaching positions, sports, bussing and more.

3. Cuts to schools would be much larger than the previous year’s failed referendum ($933,904)

4. Student fees would increase

5. Tax increase would be less dramatic due to the 2002 referendum taxes ending

6. The district had reduced its budget by $900,000 since 2002

Reasons to Oppose:

1. Larger tax increases

2. State aid was estimated to rise already ($270,000)

3. Most of the money going to staff salaries not to improvements in the schools

4. Home values may increase leaving higher tax rates in the future

5. Currently a small student to teacher ratio which wouldn’t be dramatically affected.

Quotes:

Favor: “We’ve talked in detail with members of the school board, and the school district administration. We asked tough questions about the numbers. Our own conclusion: It’s worth an extra investment.” From an ad in the Altoona Star March 31^st 2006 edition paid for by Altoona Parents and Grandparents

Opposed: “Nearly all of the other school districts within 30 miles of Altoona operate within State-Mandated Revenue Limits. The Altoona School District could cut a few more jobs and still provide a fine education for our children.” From an ad in the Altoona Star March 31^st 2006 edition paid for by George R. Samardich.

Outcome:

· Small margin of victory for the referendum proposal

· The media and community involvement peeled off enough voters to pass the referendum but failed to convince a large percentage of the population that a property tax increase was the right thing to do.

· Showed a large increase in the public’s opinion that the school district needed more money and that if a tax increase wasn’t passed that it would have detrimental effects.

To Find More information on the 2006 Referendum you can go to the School website: http://atlantis.altoona.k12.wi.us/ref/index.asp

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And nobody else ran . . .

2005 – Two openings

Kristen Dexter 1123 Votes

Helen Drawbert 1184 Votes

2006 -  One Opening

Sheila Lehnen 1727 Votes

2007 – Two Openings

Ed Bohn 212 Votes

Robert Hanks 225 Votes

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2008 – Two Openings

Robin Elvig 661 Votes

Helen Drawbert 789 Votes

2009 – One Opening

Sheila Lehnen 537 Votes

On April 5, 2009 Modern Miss Pageants held the first annual Miss Chippewa Valley Pageant. The program promotes leadership skills, teaches life lessons with community service, helps gain strength through accomplishments, develops maturity and self esteem through education and gives opportunity for the future. The pageant featured age categories from age 3 to 18 and had contestants from throughout the Chippewa Valley represented.

The pageant was held at Ramada Convention Center and consisted of photo judging, onstage interviews, spring outfit modeling and evening gown modeling to a panel of five judges. Points were based on confidence, personality, energy, grace, poise and elegance.

The Pageant winners were:
Miss Chippewa Valley 2009 – Heather Smith from Colfax, WI
Miss Chippewa Valley – 1st Runner Up – Kailee Hodgson from Chetek, WI
Miss Chippewa Valley – 2nd Runner Up – Jazmee Rowe from Jim Falls, WI
Little Miss Chippewa Valley 2009 – Heather Kent from Altoona, WI
Little Miss Princess 2009 – Alison Wahl from Eau Claire, WI
Little Miss Teeny 2009 – Madilynn Hanson from Eau Claire, WI

The Altoona School District’s expenditure report for 2007-2008 and 2008-2009. Click here to download.

The City of Altoona’s budget comparison report for 2009. Click here to download.

   Members of the Chamber of Commerce, including local business owners, city administrators, governmental officials, and staff from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and Chippewa Valley Technical College, will participate in the 15th Annual Chippewa Valley Rally, which begins on Wednesday, January 21 and continues through Thursday, January 22. There, attendees will be able to speak with local, regional, and state representatives about public projects that would be beneficial to the Chippewa Valley.
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   In July 2008, Altoona resident Juanita Peck joined 24 other Wisconsin residents to become members of the 13th Wisconsin Rural Leadership Program, a two-year-long initiative run by the University of Wisconsin System to help members become stronger community leaders. In the past seven months, Peck has traveled across the region to work with city, school, and government officials to learn exactly what one needs to make a difference in their community.

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   Although citizens should always question fundraising organizations and ask what the money is supporting, Altoona residents should once again be particularly aware of phone calls and other solicitations sponsored by a Boston-based organization called School Booster Company. 

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   This Friday will mark the end of the Altoona Star as a weekly publication. Based on the advertising conditions and the subscription counts, the newspaper continually required too much external support and was not getting close enough to the break-even point to keep subsidizing. Unlike some entities, we will not be asking for a government bailout; rather, we will accept that the market isn’t there for this service and move on.
   I want to thank a few folks that have done a great job taking over the paper and making it into something I, for one, am very proud of:
   Sara Hefty managed the transition from the previous owners and basically rebuilt the paper from scratch. She developed and systemized the operations so that every week, we would get a consistent issue out and every issue would continually get better. She also did a great job finding good people and helping them succeed.
   Emily Thierfelder took over the editor job at this time last year and did a great job of managing the publication every week. She made sure we had the writers and photos needed. She also selected the stories and made sure the content was edited and ready for the paper when it came time to hit the publication deadline.
   Juliann Sylla started part-time last spring doing excellent graphic design work for the paper and has helped create much of the solid advertising and graphics that made the paper stand out.
   Lindsey Morrow picked up the sales spot this past fall and did a great job of getting out and meeting advertisers and helping them find good advertising solutions with the paper.
   Derek Hagen has covered hundreds of sports articles for the paper over the years and has done an extraordinary job making sure the games were covered and covered well.
   This list doesn’t include a whole pile of folks that did editing, writing, photography, and more. Thank you to everyone that contributed in every area. It was a great setup and your help and participation was extraordinary.
   Also, thanks to the folks that worked with our reporters on stories, from the staff of the city to the schools and a whole bunch of other folks that help provide the details of the news – thank you.

   Well, what can I say? Having to close down the newspaper is a unfortunate situation, but the numbers don’t lie – a poor economy combined with rough times for the publication industry as a whole finally affected the Altoona Star.
   The past year has been fantastic. I have learned so much about the community of Altoona: The ins and outs of civic development, more about municipal finance than I think I will ever need to know, and most importantly, I have gotten to know many of the residents that make this small Wisconsin town such a great place to live and work – and I have enjoyed every moment.
   As Altoona Star Creative Director Sara Hefty wrote in her January 5th, 2007 “editor’s note,” the newspaper hired me right out of college at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. Being so young and relatively inexperienced, I know many of you did not need to trust me as much as you did – but nevertheless, you answered my phone calls, called me with news tips and story ideas, and continued to read the newspaper. In doing so, you helped me and the rest of the Star staff provide real-world experience to a plethora of freelance reporters and photographers, and made my first year of “adult” work one of the most enjoyable I think I might ever have.
   It has been an educational and challenging year, but I leave with fantastic memories of the Altoona community. I am looking forward to the future – and hopefully, to seeing some of you around town once in a while!