Referendum History
March 19th, 2010 by Steve FisherBackground: 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 19th 2002 from the Leader Telegram
Against: “Meanwhile, a rift between some board members and Superintendent Craig Hitchens clouded the referendum issue.” May 19th 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 19th 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 22nd 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 22nd 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 6th 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 31st 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 4th 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 31st 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 31st 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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