(The Center Square) – Wisconsin voters approved $950.8 million in new funds through K-12 school referenda this spring in the February and April elections, including $441.7 million for operations and $509.1 million for capital projects.
But just three of the 10 largest referenda proposals in the state were approved – in Oshkosh, Racine and Port Washington-Saukville – according to a new report from Wisconsin Policy Forum. Voters in Arrowhead, Kenosha, Sheboygan Falls, Beloit and Fond du Lac all rejected referendums.
Overall, Wisconsin voters approved 53 of 94 school district referenda so far this year, with more than one-third (36) of those questions an effort to retry a previously failed referenda of the same variety from the previous two years.
Seventeen of the retry efforts were successful.
More unsuccessful referenda are now being retried, the analysis shows, and a significant number are ultimately approved. In polls, however, voters are now saying they are less willing to raise their property taxes in order to increase school funding.
“A key question now is how (Gov. Tony) Evers and lawmakers will respond in the next state budget and whether they will seek to raise revenue limits or related aid or find ways to help districts control their costs,” the analysis concludes. “Without some action at the state level, referenda – and retries – are likely to remain a relatively common feature on Wisconsin ballots.”
The overall referenda approval rate this year was 56.4%, up from 54.9% in 2003. But the 94 questions overall were the most in an odd-numbered year since 2007 and the 62 operating referenda are the most in an odd year since 2001 after the state saw a record 148 operating referendum questions in 2024.
https://www.thecentersquare.com/wisconsin/article_13f4fa70-8a39-11ef-b574-0f4f20e7debc.html
This year, the analysis showed that 25 of the 62 operating referenda on ballots were retries with 12 passing.
There were 11 capital debt retry questions, including a pair that were split into multiple questions in Spring Valley (both passed) and Wautoma (both failed).
The 56.4% rate of approval represents a slight increase over the 54.9% of referenda approved in 2023; approval rates tend to be lower in odd-numbered years when midterm and presidential elections are not on the ballot. The 94 questions asked of voters this year, however, is the most in an odd-numbered year since 2007, and the 62 operating referenda are the most in an off-year since 2001 (see Figure 1). This follows a record-setting 148 operating referendum questions posed to voters in 2024.
