MPS referendum: Voters will soon decide on $252M ask, why similar initiatives failed to pass in other districts

MILWAUKEE, Wis. (CBS 58) -- One of the most high-profile issues on the ballot this upcoming Tuesday is the referendum aimed at raising $252 million dollars for Milwaukee Public Schools. The funds would come from an increase in property taxes for Milwaukee residents, and it comes on the heels of voters rejecting similar referendums in three smaller districts back in February.

"We've just seen 16 years of underfunding where, per pupil, funding has not kept pace with inflation," explained Chris Thiel, the MPS legislative policy manager. "We've had great success expanding our arts and music and physical education programs and we want to continue that success."

The MPS referendum would require homeowners to contribute $216 per $100,000 of assessed property value over the course of four years. Thiel also said that the property value may fluctuate from year to year but because there are no more funds coming from the state, it's now up to the community to step up.

"If home values go up or home values go down, some factors are outside of our control," he said. "There's really nothing else out there that can make up a 200-million-dollar deficit in our case."

Milwaukee is not alone--there are 90 proposed school referenda on ballots across Wisconsin this spring and they could be facing uphill battles after voters rejected a handful of similar asks in February.

"Our state has set up a system where they do give us operational dollars, but they don't give us that infrastructure dollars and I almost consider it to like a patriotic civic duty to take care of our infrastructure in our schools," said Waterford Union High School Superintendent Dr. Luke Francois.

Waterford Union School District asked for a 20-year bond totaling $91 million; that referendum failed to pass in February. Francois said the disconnect in communities is that they don't understand that schools lack funding by design.

"We are spending...hundreds of thousands of dollars to repair old equipment; that money is being wasted because that equipment is continually aging out and that's just not sustainable," added Francois. "We are continually borrowing from our fund balance and if we continue to do that, we literally will run out of funds to fix and repair these band-aid approaches."

Wilmot Union High School District Administrator Michael Plourde told CBS 58 News inflation might be a significant contributing factor as to why their district's referendum also failed to pass in February. 

"I see school referendums as something that taxpayers can control and there's a lot of other things right now, rising cost, that they can't," he said.

Wilmot Union High School District asked for a three-year nonrecurring referendum of $7.5 million. It too, failed and now the district faces significant budget cuts.

Plourde said he was surprised by the results, especially after surveying the community las fall and having majority vote in support of this initiative. 

"We're probably going to have to eliminate some positions, we're definitely going to have to put off some much-needed maintenance," Plourde added. "We have probably millions of dollars' worth of repairs that need to get done but there's no way we can budget through that, you know, in our regular budget."

Now their immediate goal is to attempt to minimize the impact on students.

"We'll continue to patch and delay, you know, for as long as possible," Plourde said. "I do think that eventually we're going to have to go back to the taxpayers again, you know, and maybe for a capitol referendum."

Moreover, an $11 million school referendum in Burlington also failed in February.

MPS is hoping their turnout is different, otherwise, they'll be left with no other option but to make tough cuts and ask again this fall.

"Every school leader is trying to make sure that we do the best we can to support students," said Thiel.

Anyone with questions or concerns can contact MPS at: [email protected]