Stevens Point School District. Image courtesy: WAOW TV
STEVENS POINT, WI (WSAU) – The Stevens Point Area School District will be hosting a public Q&A session this week for their upcoming operational referendum.
The session will be held on Wednesday from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. in the SPASH Auditorium, and according to the district’s website, they require an additional $14 million per year to retain high-quality teachers and staff, re-establish a healthy fund balance, fund their 10-year facility maintenance plan, and offer behavior and mental health support.
The district points to several reasons why additional funds are needed, such as rising costs caused by inflation that are impacting people’s lives state-wide. They also state that the district does not receive enough funds from the state to run its programs effectively.
If passed, this referendum would cause Stevens Point’s property taxes to increase by $0.13 per $1,000 of assessed property value in the first year. The owner of a home worth $100,000 would also see a tax impact of about $44 per year. In year 2, the estimated property tax increase would be an additional $0.13 per $1,000 of assessed property value, or $47 per year for the owner of a home worth $100,000.
Steven’s Point Area School District Superintendent Cori Hirsbrunner spoke about the tax increase and the need for the referendum, saying, “I understand people are on fixed incomes and everything is going up, from when they go to the grocery store to paying for fuel or anything, but I also really pride this district, as does our community and staff, in the opportunities that we provide kids, and those sorts of things cost money, especially when you’ve been frozen at no increase per student six out of the last eight years, so we just can’t maintain our current programs and offerings if we don’t have the funds to do that.”
As of October 2023, Wisconsin’s current budget increased for general school aid by 3 percent, or $154.7 million, to a total of $5.36 billion, and taxpayers are expected to see an additional $325 cost per student this upcoming school year and another $325 increase in 2025 after Gov. Tony Evers used a partial veto last summer to increase public school spending for the next 400 years.
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