Marion School District

A blue banner with white text announcing a Marion School District referendum in November 2024.

What assumptions did the district use for estimating the future tax impact related to the borrowing and repayment?
- Repayment Term: Tax-exempt borrowing and repayment over 20 years
- Borrowing Interest Rate: 4.75%
  - Current market rates in September of 2024 are 4.00%
- Equalized Property Value Growth: $391,745,971 in 2023 and $440,963,387 in 2024 with growth of 2% thereafter
- Tax Mill Rate increase represents the increase over the current mill rate to be used to repay the referendum debt
- Significant changes in market conditions may require an update to the preliminary financing plan
How will the referendum impact my taxes over the next 20 years?
- The bonds borrowed to pay for school construction are long term bonds with payments of principal and interest much like a home mortgage. The typical period of these bonds is 20 years. When projecting the property tax impact for the costs of these projects, all fees and interest are taken into consideration to allow the district to accurately forecast the maximum annual property tax impact over the life of the bond. The goal is to be at or below projections. Other factors not related to referendum elections can impact property taxes which are out of the control and predictability of the bonds for these projects.
Why doesn't the school district budget differently to address all maintenance needs?
- The capital project portion of a school district's annual budget in most Wisconsin school districts is not sufficient to address larger building maintenance projects. It could take a district time beyond the life of the building component - such as a roof - to save enough funds to cover these larger project costs. Over the past 10 years, Marion has only been able to dedicate between 8% and 10% of the annual budget to facility maintenance
Why doesn't the school district "live within their means" instead of needing a referendum?
- All Wisconsin school districts are bound by state law to live within their means, including Marion, by Wisconsin Act 16 implemented in 1993. The only option a school district has to raise operational or facility improvement spending is through community support of a referendum. The formula established by the State for funding of schools often does not keep up with the economic needs of a community and school district as evidenced by Marion's need to pass the operational referendum in April 2023. This November election, these same needs for a referendum are also shared by almost 1/4 of the school districts in Wisconsin. Marion is consistently one of the lower spending districts in the state for our size and has done an excellent job getting the most value of the funds available, but the needs that exceed our current means continue to grow.
Why don’t we teach more of the trades and better prepare students to join the workforce when they graduate?
- Marion has both a strong agriculture and technology education department, both of which offer curriculum in the trades and partnerships with local Technical Colleges and businesses to help prepare our students for the workforce. As needs in business and industry change, so does the need to invest in our trades curriculum and equipment to maintain strong workforce development programming. On average, 40 Marion High School students (20%) complete either a local work experience, state-approved Youth Apprenticeship or Technical College Skills Diploma or Certificate annually. Question 1 of the referendum seeks to expand the offerings our technology and agriculture departments can provide to Marion students.
Why don't we just build a new K-12 school now or a single campus now?
- A single campus combining elementary, middle and high school in one school at the current elementary site is the goal for our school district. This referendum takes two steps towards that goal. Completing all parts of the project to house all students in one facility will have costs beyond the borrowing capacity of the district making the entire project unattainable with a single referendum.
Why do we need another referendum after we just approved one?
- In April 2023, we passed an operational referendum to address structural needs within the budget in the years since revenue limits went into effect in 1993 and costs have continued to grow faster than revenues. The current referendum is proposed to address critical facility needs not approved in the 2023 referendum.
Why is the cost of the referendum so high?
- The Board of Education has worked hard at keeping project costs reasonable and addressing only critical needs. Economic factors including the rise in building costs by 33% in the last four years has put needs further out of reach of our district's existing budget.
Why should this referendum matter to me since I don't have children in the district?
- Quality and attractiveness of schools is one of the top factors in a family's decision to move into a community. Supporting good schools is directly related to improving the quality and services available in a community benefiting everyone in a community both young and old.
Aren't families having fewer children?
- There has been a decline in birth rates nationally; however, locally Shawano County birth rates currently are higher than the 15-year average in the county and Waupaca County birth rates are currently only slightly lower than the 15-year average in the county.
Why doesn't Marion consolidate with another school district?
- While a similar study doesn't exist in Wisconsin, a recent study of rural Maine school closures indicates that closure of a school does not change taxes in a community significantly. Taxes do not go down because all the cost of operating a school simply is transferred to another district. Quality of schools and proximity continue to be one of the top factors families and employers use in choosing a location to move or invest. Consolidation will not resolve Marion's challenges.
Why don't we concentrate on economic growth of our community instead of building on the school?
- Economic growth of a community works together with growth of school districts. Every growth plan by counties, towns and municipalities includes the aspect of education. Marion School District is also one of the larger employers in the Marion community and looks to partner with local businesses wherever possible to support economic growth in the community and prepare students to join the workforce and contribute to the community when they graduate.
Haven't our enrollments been drastically declining?
- While it is true that Marion experienced a decline in enrollment between 1996 and 2012, since then, enrollments have been relatively steady in the previous decade and have begun to climb again. Over the past 7 years, Marion's enrollment has stabilized and has been increasing for the last 4 school years. As of publication, the current enrollment is the highest it has been in 11 years, and is 3 students higher than the average enrollment for the past 15 years.
Why do we need to build on the school when enrollments have been doing down?
- Enrollments have been increasing in Marion. As enrollments began stabilizing, the district worked to establish a long-range plan to plan for the future and directly address Marion's student counts by consolidating all students in one building on one campus. Moving all students to an expanded and improved school at the elementary site is the ultimate goal, but additional space needs to be created to achieve this master plan. The master plan is the most direct path to reducing the space used by the school district and the overall goal of a reduction of operational costs.

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