Community Spirit–September 2026
Ryan Ruggles, District Administrator
Renewing our Operational Referendum
As one of the highest achieving districts in our conference and as a destination district in central Wisconsin, we take pride in our success and we are thankful for the support and collaboration of our community. It takes a lot of work, planning and resources to create the type of schools we want for our students and community. A big part of that success is being intentional with our budget.
The state of Wisconsin has a very complex school funding system. Funding comes from a variety of sources with the majority coming from local taxes and state aid. Federal funding and other local revenue sources make up a much smaller percentage of our funding. When you add in revenue limits, equalization formula, school voucher impact, declining enrollment levy, and mill rates, in addition to limited state per pupil increases which have not come close to keeping pace with inflation, we have a recipe for frustration and misunderstanding.
Due to the revenue cap limits that were set back in the 90’s, Tomorrow River Schools is locked in as a low revenue district. With that, our district has utilized an operational referendum for over 20 years. For the past three years we have worked with a non-recurring operational referendum of $900,000 per year (we are in our final year of the three-year operational referendum). These funds have helped pay salaries, cover instructional costs for materials and technology, and are used for ongoing building maintenance. The operational referendum funds have been essential for keeping our schools running efficiently and effectively.
At the August 17th school board meeting, the School Board unanimously voted to approve the renewal of our operational referendum for three years at $1,100,000 each year. This increase is due to inflationary costs and the inability of the state to fund us appropriately. With increased enrollment last school year, we received almost $400,000 less in state funding last school year, and early projections from DPI show us with a slight ($6,000) increase in state funding for this coming school year. This is in addition to the state not funding special education reimbursement at their promised rate for the biannual budget. (Promised 42%, actual 35%.)
The mill rate for this school year is currently set at $7.85 and the increased renewal would make the mill rate $7.93 in the first year, $7.82 in the second year, and $7.78 in the third year. As we look at the math, the increase would be $240 on a $300,000 valued house.
Even with the increased referendum costs, we will still look to make some cuts in the next few years, as the amount will not fully cover our estimated operating costs. We are dedicated to being fiscally prudent and finding efficiencies in our budget. Overall, we will continue to connect with our community around our funding needs and plans.
In addition to our internal work, we will engage with the state legislature and our representatives on the school funding formula and all funding related legislation. That is an area in which we can continue to support each other. As we shared during our last operational referendum presentation, if the state per pupil allocation would have increased with inflation over the years, we would have no need for an operational referendum in our district. Other areas that would decrease the taxpayer burden would be increased funding for special education in the state and more open enrollment dollars to follow the student. All of these are areas in which you can engage with our state representatives to help taxpayers while keeping our schools strong.
Thank you for your support and partnerships. We are better together.