Referendum

The public-school funding model Wisconsin established in 1993 was designed to empower local voters to decide how to fund their district rather than automatically keeping pace with increasing costs through state funding and automatic tax levy increases.

Since then, education funding from the State Legislature has not kept pace with inflation, causing school districts across Wisconsin to navigate serious funding issues. The gap between rising costs and insufficient state funding is necessitating more districts to turn to voters to maintain operations and meet capital needs.

The Williams Bay School is not alone in the state of Wisconsin when it comes to facing financial challenges. According to Baird Financial, as of November 2023, over 85% of districts statewide have been forced to seek operational referendum support from their communities.

Since 2010, only 19 of Wisconsin’s 421 school districts have not asked voters to consider an operational or debt referendum.

The amount of revenue a district can raise from state aid and local property taxes is restricted by state statutes. This restriction has been in existence since 1993.

Operational referendums allow school districts to increase spending to cover rising infrastructure and operational costs, such as staffing, supplies, and equipment, by seeking taxpayer approval to raise property taxes. If approved, districts can access the additional funds; if not, they cannot.

If approved, referendum would authorize the District to exceed the state revenue limit by $2,000,000 for the 2027-2028 school year, by $2,250,000 for the 2028-2029 school year, by $2,500,000 for the 2029- 2030 school year, and by $2,750,000 for the 2030-2031 school year, for non-recurring purposes consisting of ongoing operational expenses. A successful referendum will allow the District to continue to provide
students an exceptional learning experience and attract and retain high-quality educators.

This referendum proposes an incremental four-year increase in taxing authority by $250,000 dollars per year. Projections indicated that the mill rate will decrease each year of the referendum.  As such, taxes will continue to decline EVEN WITH AN APPROVED REFERENDUM.

In the first year, with a projected year one decrease of $0.25 per month, per $100,000 of property value over the 2027-2028 school year.

Year two would see this decrease to $2.17 per month, per $100,000 of property value over the 2028-2029 school year.

Year three would see this decrease to a projected decrease of $1.75 per month, per $100,000 of property value over the 2029-2030 school year.

Year four would see this decrease to a projected decrease of $1.67 per month, per $100,000 of property value over the 2030-2031 school year.

No! The District has operated with a level tax levy the past five out of six years. Through long-term planning and responsible spending, the District has controlled expenditures by right sizing staffing, maximizing enrollment, and prioritizing expenditures. This has allowed the district to under levy and only collect in taxes what it needs. The District will continue its commitment to the community to only levying for what it needs to maintain current student programming and attract and retain high quality staff. The referendum will maintain our current level of funding and not increase it.

The electorate approved a three-year operational referendum for the school district in April 2024. Voter approval to exceed the revenue limit ends after the 2026-2027 school year. The District is asking the Williams Bay School community to “Continue the Commitment” by approving a four-year operational referendum starting in the Fall of 2027, essentially continuing the spirit of the first referendum. 

Over the past several years, the Williams Bay School District has taken meaningful steps to manage its finances responsibly. The District has already reduced expenses through right sizing staffing, sharing services with other districts, maximizing enrollment, and spending conservatively. These strategies were implemented to maintain level funding so homeowners did not see an increase to the school portion of
their tax bill while maintaining quality programs for our students and maintaining well-kept facilities.

The referendum will allow the District to maintain level funding to continue of commitment of providing the following:

• Student Programming: maintain current programming, manage class sizes and staff-to-student ratios while providing a high-quality learning experience that ensures students are college and career ready.
• Utilities and General Supplies: keep up with increasing costs in utilities and general supplies.
• Staff Salaries & Benefits: retain and attract quality teachers and support staff by keeping compensation at to the area median.
• School Operations: sustain core operational and maintenance funds to implement our long-range facilities plan.

A failed referendum will force the Williams Bay School District to make significant cuts to balance our 2027-2028 budget and future budgets. Those reductions will have to come from several areas: staff, programs and services, maintenance, services to the community, and others, while strategies to increase revenues include increasing class sizes, raising student and community fees, and reducing staff. Increasing
class sizes and/or cutting elective programing would be very hard on our students and our staff — and the possibility of not being able to staff our buildings is a real concern. We would not be able to compensate our staff at the median and benefits would not be reduced, which would impact our ability to retain staff. The District would explore all alternatives including the possibility of consolidation and closing. While this is the last option our school board wants to consider, it is a very real situation we could need to consider.

The proposed 4-year operational referendum is set to expire at the end of the 2030-2031 school year (June 2031).
During the four years, the district will prioritize enrollment-driven staffing decisions and carefully manage resources to ensure efficient use of taxpayer dollars. The district remains dedicated to balancing the budget, upholding educational excellence, and maximizing every dollar spent. This includes responsible facility maintenance and staffing adjustments based on enrollment trends.

As the referendum concludes in June 2031, the District Administration and Board of Education will review state funding and the district’s financial outlook. They will then determine if another referendum is necessary to sustain current programs and services.

The Board of Education has discussed consolidation to gain an understanding of the process and how this would impact our students and the Williams Bay community. The Williams School District would only be permitted to consolidate with a neighboring kindergarten through twelfth grade district. Consequently, we would need to consolidate with either the Elkhorn Area School District or the Delavan-Darien School District. If a decision is made to pursue consolidation, voter approval via a binding referendum in each of the affected school districts would be needed. If the state legislature provides funding to help districts pay for formal studies on whether a merger makes sense, the Board would strong consider participating to better understand the positive and negative impact on our community.

If the Williams Bay School District consolidates with another district, residents would still pay school taxes. They would just go to the new district in which residents are assigned. This includes taking on their referendum taxes and debt. Surrounding districts are facing the same fiscal constraints as Williams Bay and most are operating under referendums. Absorbing Williams Bay students could require them to raise taxes to accommodate new students. As a result, your taxes could increase.

An OPERATIONAL referendum asks voters to approve additional funding above the annual revenue limit to maintain things like class sizes, programs, staff compensation and student services. Funds secured are intended to be used within the year(s) they are received.

A CAPITAL(BOND) referendum asks voters to approve the district issuing debt to pay for major building projects, such as maintenance, remodeling or additions to school buildings. Much like a home mortgage, a facility (bond) referendum is typically financed over an extended period of time, often 20 years.

The district is working with Robert W. Baird and Co. to ensure that we have an accurate forecast of revenue and expenses. They are providing us with comprehensive financial data to determine the full extent of the budget deficit, to advise on spending without impacting student experiences, and to seek additional revenue opportunities. The district also remains in contact with its legal and fiscal counsel on all relevant matters.

The Williams Bay School District receives the majority of our school funding from taxes collected from our homeowners. If the anticipated revenues exceed the budgeted expenditures, the District has not and will not levy to its full authority.

Tuesday, November 3, 2026
Polls are open from 7 am to 8 pm

If you have any questions about your polling place, voter registration, or early in-person and absentee voting please visit the Myvote.wi.gov website for more information.

Updates will be shared through website content, social media posts on the District Instagram and Facebook pages, mailers to residents, and District emails through the student/parent list serv.

Make plans to join us at one of our Community Presentations/Booths: 

September 25 | 7 p.m.
Football Field

October 14 | 7 p.m.
Middle/High School Lecture Center

Can't make it to one of these events? Email Superintendent Dr. Bill White wwhite@williamsbayschool.org or Business Manager Jennifer Frederick jfrederick@williamsbayschool.org.

78 school districts are currently registered to be going to the ballots in November with a referendum.

Of those, 53 are non-recurring operational referenda similar to ours.  We are not alone in this revenue limit fiscal cliff.

You can find all of the referendum information across the state here:  DPI Referendum Report .  Click on School District Referenda Report and filter by “Referendum Outcome: Before the Vote Date” to see those in November.  You can also find historical info as well.

Delavan-Darien, Evansville, Fort Atkinson, Geneva Joint 4 Woods School, Janesville, Trevor-Wilmot, Twin Lakes #4 Lakewood School and Whitewater districts are those closest to us going in November.  Most schools in the immediate area have been to referendum in the past 4 years relating to a fiscal cliff.