The Verona Area School District operational referendum language on the November 8 ballot is as follows:

"Shall the Verona Area School District, Dane County, Wisconsin be authorized to exceed the revenue limit specified in Section 121.91, Wisconsin Satutes, by $19,000,000 for the 2022-23 school year and thereafter, for recurring purposes consisting of expenses related to ongoing educational programming, maintaining and supporting instructional and extracurricular programs, and paying salary and other operational expenses?"

On August 30, 2022, Governor Evers announced that additional federal COVID-19 recovery support funds would be directed to public schools for staffing and other classroom support and mental health services. The Verona Area School District will receive $511,625 for staffing and other classroom support and $84,493 for mental health support. This funding will be received during the 2022-23 school year and must be spent by December 3, 2026.

It is important to note that this is a one-time influx of funds. They will benefit our district, but are not a solution to recurring expenses. We must exercise caution using one-time funds to pay for recurring expenses.

Governor Evers announced that he is proposing additional funding for public education in the next Wisconsin Biennial Budget.

However, it is important to understand that this is part of a months-long budget process that starts in November and concludes in July of the following year. Before passage, the budget goes through multiple revisions. Based on the history of the budget process, there is no reason to believe that the budget proposed in November will be reflected in the final budget passed in July.

Thank you for your interest! Click the links above to see an informational sheet and various media coverage of the operational referendum. We welcome you to attend one of the upcoming Community Information Sessions -- see dates, times, and locations below.

In April 2017, the community voted to support a $181.3 million investment in our schools for three key areas: 

• $160 million for a new high school
• $18 million for a new swimming pool and athletic fields at the new high school
• Funds to support increased operating costs associated with the new facilities

The new Verona Area High School was completed by September 2020 and opened for in-person learning in winter 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Verona Area High School was named one of the best construction projects of 2020 by the Associated General Contractors of America. Even more important than this amazing facility is the learning, relationships, and opportunities that are developed there.

An operating referendum typically focuses on covering the regular annual operating expenses of the school district. An operating referendum gives taxpayers the opportunity to vote on whether or not to raise the district's revenue limit authority above the state-defined limit for the next four years. A facilities referendum, on the other hand, asks voters for permission to borrow funds to cover new construction or major renovation projects. 

The district is managing the financial effects of no new recurring funding authority from the State of Wisconsin, utilization of one-time funding to close budget gaps, and record-high inflation have created a scenario that will require VASD to ask for additional revenue authority to operate our school district.

The mill rate is the total amount of the tax apportionment (levy) divided by the total local assessed value for that taxing jurisdiction. This rate is expressed in mills per dollar of value or the amount per $1,000 of the assessed value of the property.

The referendum, if approved, will give the VASD Board of Education permission to invest an additional $19M in the Verona area's public schools. This added revenue authority will likely be used in the coming years as our district navigates future two-year budget cycles. The Board does not have to use this added authority.

The VASD operating referendum will be mill rate neutral, which means the referendum will not be the reason that a property owner’s mill rate could increase. If the property's assessed value increases, the owner’s taxes may increase as a result.

To ensure the proposed referendum does not result in a mill rate increase, VASD will leverage the prepayment of capital debt, one-time federal funding, and the impact of our community’s growing tax base. The district and board are committed to respecting the needs of our local property taxpayers and have worked hard to plan for a mill rate neutral proposal for the ballot.

In Wisconsin, public schools are funded by a combination of state dollars and local property taxes. In recent years, the amount of state aid available to public schools in our state has continued to decrease, placing more of the responsibility to fund schools on local property taxpayers.

The VASD Board of Education asked voters to give the local school board authority to exceed the revenue limit authority provided by the state legislature.

Wisconsin school districts exist in an environment that is less and less supportive of public education. We are operating under a revenue limit formula designed by the state government which sets a limit on the combined total amount of state aid and local taxes a school district may receive each year to operate the schools. Over the past several years, the revenue limit has become increasingly restrictive. With annual revenue growth that does not keep up with the cost of living, school districts must turn to cuts in personnel, programs, and services for students to balance the annual budget.

In the most recent state budget process, no new per-pupil revenue was provided for public schools. Instead, Wisconsin's legislators suggested that school districts use federal funds intended to support COVID-19 pandemic recovery to balance their budgets. This will leave the Verona Area School District with a $4 million budget gap for the 2023-24 school year. Looking ahead, we can reasonably predict the budget shortage growing to a $13 million budget gap by the 2026-27 school year.

The total tax levy is voted on by the Board of Education each year. The board has historically attempted to keep mill rates steady. Recently, the board has used Fund 39 as a method to levy additional funds to pay down capital debt early. This has given our district the opportunity to explore a Fund 10 operating referendum question. If the operating referendum question ended up on the ballot and was voted down, the board would still have the option to keep mill rate steady by paying down additional Fund 39 debt.

Yes, we will miss out on some interest savings if the board elects to use all of the $19,000,000 operating authority in the future and continues to prioritize steady mill rates. Our board always has the option to raise taxes and continue to aggressively attack interest, regardless of the outcome of the referendum. In the current budget, they have decided to reach a compromise. Continue to prepay debt in the short term (saving on interest) and add operating expenses to pay for staffing and programming. The current 2022-23 VASD Budget has done this while keeping taxes in check, lowering our tax rate by 10%. Like all districts with debt, this is a constant balancing act. 

The original amount of the loan related to the high school was $165,000,000, with an associated $63,467,000 interest. This is what the voters agreed to pay when the referendum question was passed in 2017. VASD currently owes $116,570,00 in principal, with an associated $35,000,000 in interest. We've nearly cut the interest in half over the last five years. Our board has committed to prioritizing this interest-saving strategy in the future as our budget allows. 

It should be noted, many districts just pay minimum principal and interest for the duration of the entire debt schedule (loan). They do this to keep the levy (taxes) as low as possible but it ends up costing taxpayers more money in the end. In theory, the board could stop making any prepayment in an effort to save on interest and lower our tax levy substantially. 

The 2022-23 budget has another $12,400,000 of funds set aside for debt management and interest savings. This is above and beyond our minimum required payments. These funds will be secured into a defeasance arrangement because the district has no callable debt until 2026. The investment revenues from the defeasance for this year are unknown at this point. What happens in regards to all debt management in the future will be an annual decision the Board would make. 

Future variables impacting debt management are listed below and make estimates related to the interest savings we could forego impossible to calculate.

• Property valuation on an annual basis

• The amount of state aid VASD receives

• The annual mill rate future school boards are comfortable passing

• Prepayment of other existing debt that isn't connected to the 2017 referendum

• The layering of debt that could be necessary to build a new elementary school as a result of growing enrollment

• Future refinancing opportunities

• Other unknowns like the categorical aid from the State