Posted: Nov. 16, 2009

Greenfield — During presentations on the root causes behind the Greenfield School District's budget woes, Superintendent Conrad Farner often says there are two types of school districts in Wisconsin: those that have sought operational referendums and those that will.

So it comes as no surprise that he and other administrators will now study the possibility of an operational referendum in Greenfield. The School Board last week unanimously gave him approval to go ahead with an initial investigation.

Voter-approved funding

Operational referendums, which must be approved by voters, allow school districts to exceed state revenue caps by asking residents to pay additional taxes over a certain time period.

Greenfield administrators will have to explore many questions, among them when to hold a referendum, how much funding is needed, what could be approved and how long the district should exceed the state caps, Farner said.

"This is certainly not anything we're excited about," Farner told board members. "If something doesn't change at the state level, the district has no other choice. We will have to go to an operational referendum, just like half the districts in the state have already done."

Greener on the other side

One of those school districts is Greenfield's neighbor.

Greendale School District voters in 2000 and again in 2004 voted to allow the district to spend $550,000 more than the state-imposed revenue cap. The 2004 referendum, which passed with 56 percent of the vote, added $90 to the average Greendale tax bill.

Officials there said it kept them from cutting programs and staff. The referendum expires in June 2010 and the district is studying whether to hold another one, said Erin Green, Greendale business dervices director.

Financial struggle

The Greenfield School District's financial woes resulted in the School Board last month raising the property tax levy by 11.2 percent compared to last year.

Administrators blamed the double-digit increase on a $1.8 million drop in state aid and said budget problems promise to get only worse in the coming years.

That makes an operational referendum, Farner said, appear inevitable.