Evers vetoes GOP proposal for new limit on Wisconsin school referendum requests
Gov. Tony Evers vetoed a handful of Republican education bills Friday including one that would have put limits on school districts’ ability to seek property tax increases at the ballot box by requiring that the districts submit financial documents on time before going to referendum.
As Wisconsin school districts continue to rely on property tax increases sought through referendum to keep up with costs, Republican lawmakers have been seeking ways to put up roadblocks to those efforts.
AB 457 would have required the Department of Public Instruction to certify that schools are in compliance with requirements to submit financial information to DPI before they could seek a referendum. If a district is not in compliance, the school board would be prohibited from adopting a resolution to hold a referendum and any resolutions adopted or referendum passed without the certification would be void.
Republican lawmakers introduced the bill in reaction to the passage of Milwaukee Public Schools $252 million recurring operating referendum in April 2024 and the news that broke afterward, in May 2024, that the district was months late in submitting required financial reports.
https://wisconsinexaminer.com/briefs/evers-vetoes-gop-proposal-for-new-limit-on-wisconsin-school-referendum-requests/