District officials explain funding issues, decision to go to referendum

School District of Rhinelander officials have answers for local voters who have questions about the upcoming operational referendum vote on April 1.

During an informational meeting at the Hodag Dome Wednesday morning, district superintendent Eric Burke and finance director Bob Thom explained that Rhinelander, like a number of other northern Wisconsin school districts, is headed to referendum due to rising costs, an “outdated and inequitable” funding formula and a lack of state aid to public schools.

Thom told the small group of attendees that state representatives in Madison have expressed support for local public schools but have not been able to move the needle in terms of securing additional aid.

“We talk to the legislators. We say ‘Hey, c’mon you gotta do something for the north,’ They say “Yup” then they go back to Madison and nothing changes,” Thom explained, noting that the state legislature’s inaction has forced local taxpayers to foot more of the bill.

A handout distributed to attendees showed the drastic shift in responsibility for funding Rhinelander public schools over the last two decades.

In 2005, the division was 57 percent property taxes and 43 percent state aid. Today, the state provides only 24 percent, forcing property taxpayers to come up with the other 76 percent.

In contrast, Thom said he’s worked in districts in the southern part of the state that, as a result of the current funding formula, receive approximately 80 percent of their school funding from the state, leaving taxpayers to provide only 20 percent.

Complicating matters for Rhinelander is the current $4 million per year operational referendum, passed in 2022, is set to expire at the end of the 2026-27 school year.

Thom said it has become clear the amount approved in 2022 was too low. He noted the district was trying to be “conservative” in its previous request and, unfortunately, the return of students to campus following the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in the need for additional services, especially in the special education sector. 

Burke stressed that the district is required by law to provide special education services to students in need and receives only a minimal amount of reimbursement from the state.

“Those costs have gone up over $2 million and that’s a big piece of why we are at where we are today,” he said, adding that district officials continue to hope that the legislature will increase state aid for special education but there’s no guarantee anything will change.

“So, we sit here in the North, where our legislators say we’re fighting for you. And I believe them,” Burke said. “They are. They want our schools to do well, but they get into meetings with, they say, Madison and Milwaukee legislators and it ends up going nowhere.”

In addition to the 17 percent increase special education costs, the district has had to contend with other increases. Because there’s only one bus company that services the community, transportation costs have increased by 20 percent. Summer school has proven to be popular but costs associated with that program have increased by 41 percent, Thom added. Finally, salaries and benefits have increased by 16 percent. Despite the increase, Thom stressed that Rhinelander school salaries remain “middle of the road” compared to neighboring districts and the only goal is to remain competitive so the district can attract and retain quality staff.

Post-pandemic price increases have impacted the schools in much the same way as they have local households, Thom added.

“You know what happened when you called an electrician in 2020, he might have told you it’s gonna be $500. You called him in 2023, now it’s a $1,000. The same thing that happened in your house happened to the school. We have to buy food, we have to buy fuel, we have to do all those things. Prices just shot through the roof after COVID and here we had just passed a referendum thinking we needed less. Obviously, in hindsight we would have loved to have asked for more at the time but we wanted to be conservative and fiscally responsible. No one had any idea what prices were going to do after COVID came.”

Despite the challenging circumstances, it was noted that local students have posted impressive achievements and students, staff and families have expressed satisfaction with the district as a whole.

According to the handout, local students have achieved the highest ACT composite score in five years, including the highest reading, science and math ACT scores in five years.

Also, as a result of the community’s support for previous referenda over the last 15 years, students have reaped the benefit of enhanced educational programs, improved co-curricular and community offerings, reduced fees and updated facilities (including the Hodag Dome), according to the handout.

The referendum question, as it will appear on the ballot of the April 1, 2025 spring election, reads as follows: “Shall the School District of Rhinelander, Oneida, Lincoln and Langlade Counties, Wisconsin be authorized to exceed the revenue limit specified in Section 121.91, Wisconsin Statutes, by $3,000,000 per year for the 2025-2026 school year and the 2026-2027 school year and by $7,000,000 per year for the 2027-2028 school year and 2028-2029 school year, for non-recurring purposes consisting of ongoing operational expenses?”

The estimated property tax impact for 2025-26 would be $7.92 per $1,000 of home fair market value. The tax rate is then projected to decrease in each year of the four-year operational referendum. The projected tax rate for the 2028-29 school year would be $7.07 per $1,000 of home fair market value. This would mark a decrease of 36 cents from the current 2024-25 tax rate, according to the handout.

District officials will hold a second community presentation on the referendum from 6 to 7 p.m. March 12 in the Rhinelander High School commons.

More information can also be found on the district website at https://www.rhinelander.k12.wi.us/district/referendum.cfm.