My column for the Washington County Daily News is online and in print. I take a look at the math behind the rhetoric of the upcoming referendum in the West Bend School District. Specifically, I take issue with this lie being promoted on posters around town:
Here’s a part:
One of the selling points for the referendum is that it will “only” cost an additional 13 cents in the annual property tax mill rate to buy shiny new buildings. The mill rate is simply a term that gives the tax rate per $1,000 of property value. So if you own a home valued at $200,000, the 13 cent mill rate increase would cost you $26 per year. That seems cheap, right? “Less than a cup of coffee a month,” the advocates will tout. “Can’t you spare a cup a coffee a month for the children?” And so it goes. We have seen the arguments before. But let us look at the math.
If you add up all of the property in the West Bend School District, it has an aggregate value of $4,720,140,099. A 13 cent additional mill rate would generate $613,618.20 in additional tax revenue per year. How long does it take to pay off a $74 million debt at $613,618.20 per year? Even allowing for moderate annual increases in property values, it would take over 100 years to pay off the debt. How is the West Bend School District going to pay for the fancy new schools with only an additional 13 cents in the mill rate? What sort of financial sorcery is this?
The answer, of course, is that it will not cost just an additional 13 cents in the mill rate. It will cost much, much more. In the current tax levy, the taxpayers of the West Bend School District are paying a $1.01 mill rate to pay off the old referendums passed in 2009 ($27.4 million) and 2012 ($22.865 million). For that same $200,000 house, the homeowner is paying $202 per year just to pay for debt issued in the past decade.
The old debt is being steadily paid off and will be completely paid off by 2028 — nine years from now. Some of that debt begins to be paid off this year. In short, if the citizens vote against the referendum, they will see this portion of their property taxes decrease starting next year and will be eliminated in less than a decade. If the referendum passes, the district will simply redirect that money to the new debt.
The notion that we can pay $74 million in debt with a 13 cent mill rate is ludicrous and to claim so is intentionally deceptive. The truth is that it is not only a tax increase, but forgoing a sizable tax decrease. However one manipulates the mill rate, $74 million is still roughly $1,850 for every adult in the West Bend School District. That is a lot more than a cup of coffee.
It really is distressing that the advocates for the referendum – who do so under the mantra of providing a better education for our kids – either don’t understand, or don’t care, about accurately explaining how debt works. This is why we end up with so many adults caught in a debt trap. They aren’t being taught any better.
Errmmmhhh… the Elmbrook School Board lied all the time, too. Apparently the “You Lie Here” chip comes with election.
Owen Sez: “…would cost you $26 per year…”
Seems like a bargain.
In my neck o’ the woods an upcoming school referendum would, if passed, add to my current tax bill $468 in 2019/20, $784 in 20120/21, $956 in 2021/22, and $1,143 in 2022/23.
That is on top of a $215 increase last year.
Here they are playing the “it’s ONLY this much” game, too, advertising additional taxes based on assessed value of $100,000. Trouble is, unless you live in a trailer park (and no dubba-wide), not even the ugliest shack in the district is assessed at/below 100k.
They are also claiming if the ref is not passed, the district will close. Which is fine by me. Considering the level of incompetence and mismanagement it deserves to be shut down.
MjM and what did they tell you it was going to cost, probably not that much! Also, what they don’t tell you is they are only telling you about the principle, what is the interest going to be on top of that. Lies Lies Lies. District will never close down, but I agree, ok with me!
The referendum will pass . WB proved in the last school board election that so called conservatives time has passed .