April 20, 2017 - Introduced by Senators Stroebel and Lasee, cosponsored by
Representatives Weatherston, Brandtjen, Kremer and Macco. Referred to
Committee on Education.
SB193,1,5 1An Act to amend 121.91 (2m) (i) (intro.), 121.91 (3) (c) and 121.91 (7); and to
2create
121.93 of the statutes; relating to: creating a general school aid penalty
3for increasing a school district's revenue limit by referendum and allowing
4school boards to rescind revenue limit increases that have been approved by
5referendum.
Analysis by the Legislative Reference Bureau
Current law generally limits the total amount of revenue a school district may
receive from general school aids and property taxes in a school year. However, there
are several exceptions to the revenue limit. One exception is for excess revenue
approved by referendum for recurring and nonrecurring purposes. This type of
referendum is often referred to as an operating referendum. If the operating
referendum is for a nonrecurring purpose, a school district's authority to raise excess
revenue is approved only for specific school years. If the operating referendum is for
a recurring purpose, the school district's authority to raise excess revenue is
permanent.
Under this bill, a school district's general school aid payment is reduced by a
percentage of the excess revenue approved by operating referenda. The reduction
in general school aid is 20 percent of the excess revenue approved by operating
referenda approved after the date of the bill. Under the bill, the question presented
for an operating referendum must include an estimate of any reduction in general
school aid that will occur if the referendum is approved. The bill also allows a school

board to reduce its revenue limit by adopting a resolution to rescind a portion or all
of its authority to raise excess revenue that has been granted under an operating
referendum.
For further information see the state and local fiscal estimate, which will be
printed as an appendix to this bill.
The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in senate and assembly, do
enact as follows:
SB193,1 1Section 1. 121.91 (2m) (i) (intro.) of the statutes is amended to read:
SB193,2,52 121.91 (2m) (i) (intro.) Except as provided in subs. (3), (4), and (8) and subject
3to any reduction approved under s. 121.93 (5)
, no school district may increase its
4revenues for the 2015-16 school year or for any school year thereafter to an amount
5that exceeds the amount calculated as follows:
SB193,2 6Section 2. 121.91 (3) (c) of the statutes is amended to read:
SB193,2,187 121.91 (3) (c) The referendum shall be held in accordance with chs. 5 to 12. The
8school district clerk shall provide the election officials with all necessary election
9supplies. The form of the ballot shall correspond substantially with the standard
10form for referendum ballots prescribed by the elections commission under ss. 5.64 (2)
11and 7.08 (1) (a). The question submitted shall be whether the limit under sub. (2m)
12may be exceeded by a specified amount and shall indicate the estimated reduction
13to state aid under s. 121.93 if the referendum is approved
. If the resolution provides
14that any of the excess revenue will be used for a nonrecurring purpose, the ballot in
15the election shall so state and shall specify the amount that will be used for a
16nonrecurring purpose. The limit otherwise applicable to the school district under
17sub. (2m) is increased by the amount approved by a majority of those voting on the
18question.
SB193,3 19Section 3. 121.91 (7) of the statutes is amended to read:
SB193,3,7
1121.91 (7) Except as provided in subs. (4) (f) 2. and (n) to (qe) and (8), if an excess
2revenue is approved under sub. (3) for a recurring purpose or allowed under sub. (4),
3the excess revenue shall be included in the base for determining the limit for the next
4school year for purposes of this section, unless the excess revenue has been rescinded
5under s. 121.93 (5)
. If an excess revenue is approved under sub. (3) for a nonrecurring
6purpose, the excess revenue shall not be included in the base for determining the
7limit for the next school year for purposes of this section.
SB193,4 8Section 4. 121.93 of the statutes is created to read:
SB193,3,10 9121.93 Penalty for increasing revenue limit by referendum. (1) In this
10section:
SB193,3,1411 (a) “Excess levy authority” means the sum of the total amount that a school
12district was authorized to exceed its revenue limit in the prior school year due to
13operating referenda approved after the effective date of this paragraph .... [LRB
14inserts date].
SB193,3,1715 (b) “Operating referendum” means a referendum under s. 121.91 (3) to exceed
16a school district's revenue limit for a recurring or nonrecurring purpose or for both
17recurring and nonrecurring purposes.
SB193,3,1818 (c) “Revenue limit” means a school district's limit under s. 121.91 (2m).
SB193,3,22 19(2) (a) If a school district has excess levy authority, the state superintendent
20shall decrease the school district's state aid payment under s. 121.08 by an amount
21determined by multiplying the amount of the school district's excess levy authority
22by 0.20.
SB193,4,323 (b) If, after making state aid adjustments under s. 118.51 (16) and (17) and all
24of the reductions under ss. 115.7915 (4m) (f) 1., 118.40 (2r) (g) 1. and (2x) (f) 1., and
25118.60 (4d) (b) 1., the state aid payment to a school district under s. 121.08 is

1insufficient to cover the reduction under par. (a), the state superintendent shall
2decrease other state aid payments made by the state superintendent to the school
3district by the remaining amount.
SB193,4,7 4(3) The state superintendent shall make reductions under sub. (2) after
5making state aid adjustments under s. 118.51 (16) and (17) and the reductions to
6state aid under ss. 115.7915 (4m) (f) 1., 118.40 (2r) (g) 1. and (2x) (f) 1., and 118.60
7(4d) (b) 1.
SB193,4,10 8(4) If a school district does not have excess levy authority, the state
9superintendent shall increase the amount of state aid that the school district is
10eligible to receive under s. 121.08 by an amount determined as follows:
SB193,4,1211 (a) Sum the amounts determined under sub. (2) (a) for all school districts in the
12current school year.
SB193,4,1513 (b) Calculate the total amount of state aid that all school districts that did not
14have excess authority in the current year are eligible to be paid from the
15appropriation under s. 20.255 (2) (ac).
SB193,4,1716 (c) Divide the amount determined under par. (a) by the amount determined
17under par. (b).
SB193,4,1918 (d) Multiply the amount of state aid under par. (a) by the quotient under par.
19(c).
SB193,5,2 20(5) A school board may reduce its revenue limit by adopting a resolution to
21rescind a portion or all of any increase to the school district's revenue limit approved
22by an operating referendum. A school board shall include in a resolution under this
23subsection the first school year for which the school district's revenue limit will be

1reduced. A school board shall notify the department of any resolution adopted under
2this subsection.
SB193,5,33 (End)
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