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Thank you.

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Thank you.

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Harkening back to the Marquette

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Poll, when asked which is more

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important, a majority of registered

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voters, at 58 percent,

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say they are more concerned about

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property taxes, while 41

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percent are more concern about

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funding for K-12 public

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schools.

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This is voter sentiment as residents

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recoil over hikes in property

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taxes that largely go

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to fund schools.

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And the April 7th ballots will see

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more than 70 school referendum

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questions seeking additional funding

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from taxpayers.

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The squeeze is the result of an

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increase in per-pupil revenue limits

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without accompanying state funding

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and underfunded costs of

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special education.

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But some districts want residents to

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see what else is contributing

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to the cost.

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Private voucher schools.

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Green Bay is the first municipality

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in the state to show those costs on

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residents' property tax bills.

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Mayor Eric Genrich was the

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tie-breaking vote to show that

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line item on the bills.

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And Mayor, thanks very much for

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being here.

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Of course, thanks so much for having

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me.

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So there's a lot to unpack here with

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all of this, but what has been the

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reaction in Green Bay of people's

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property tax bills this year?

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Well, you know, I think we're

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feeling the crunch like everyone is

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across the state of Wisconsin, um,

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not just with property taxes, but

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just the cost of living generally.

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And I think that's why we're

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seeing some of those answers that

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you were highlighting through the

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Marquette law poll.

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Um, people are really struggling

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with the cost of living these days

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and property taxes are,

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are pretty big number and they're,

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they're really tangible and people

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see those annually.

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And so we're certainly feeling that

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Be back. As well.

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You know, what we've advocated for

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both for public education, but more

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specifically with municipal

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government funding is more

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assistance from the state of

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Wisconsin.

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We've made some progress in that

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regard with some reforms made to

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the shared revenue program, but we

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would love a more diversified

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revenue stream with local sales

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tax options being available

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to pull down those property taxes,

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which are, you know, they're just

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out of line when you compare the

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state Wisconsin to a lot of other

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states across the country.

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I see that Green Bay schools will

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not go to referendum on April 7,

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but is looking at a deficit and

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will seek one in November.

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Why is this the same all

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over Wisconsin?

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Well, I think you reference, you

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know, the school funding formula

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really is broken

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in the state of Wisconsin and has

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been broken for some time.

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Green Bay area public schools is

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also involved in a lawsuit that

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Law Forward is bringing forward with

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some other school districts across

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the state to essentially make that

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case to our courts

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and ultimately probably to our state

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Supreme Court to say that, you know,

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we have our kids and our

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residents have a constitutional

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right. Um, to a sound basic

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education in the state of Wisconsin,

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um, and, uh, and we don't feel

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as though I don't and I think a

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lot of people don't feel that the

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state is meeting its obligation in

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that regard.

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How well do these explanations

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resonate with your taxpayers?

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I think people appreciate it.

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Nobody ever really likes paying a

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property tax bill, but they want

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to know where those funds are

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going. And so when this was brought

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forward to our common council, that

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really was the winning argument.

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It's something that our public

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school district has been calling for

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for several years.

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Our previous council shot it down.

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This council moved it forward and

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allowed us to work with the

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Department of Revenue.

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With our county treasurer to figure

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out exactly, you know, how we can

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place this information on the

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bill. But, you know for Green Bay

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area, taxpayers,

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$14 million is going

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for this purpose, just under

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10 million for the city of Green Bay

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proper.

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So that's a big number.

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You break it down to the average

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homeowner, you know a $300,000

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home. I think that's about $270

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going for,

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for this, this voucher program.

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So again, I was going to

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back up and suggest that what you're

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talking about there is the line item

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of the voucher schools

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on the property tax bill.

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And again, in your mind, why is that

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important to delineate?

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Well, again, this was something that

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our school district felt very

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strongly about for some time.

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They brought it to our common

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council.

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And we just felt like transparency

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is really the best answer here.

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I think a lot of people assume

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public dollars are going to public

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schools.

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When you show this to them, it tends

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to raise some questions.

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But even if you're an advocate

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of private voucher schools,

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I think this enables one to make

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that argument. The system that we

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have in place.

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Is the one that voucher advocates

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have asked for at the state of

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Wisconsin.

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And so if they're not comfortable

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with it, you know, they should bring

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forward an alternate way of

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funding education in the state

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Wisconsin.

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And I know that, you know public

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school advocates have been doing

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that for some time and we're

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certainly looking forward to seeing

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how that lawsuit moves forward

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and how the legislature responds

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to this debate in the next session.

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Meanwhile, it looks like Green Bay

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schools will be even worse off

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deficit-wise in the 27-28

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school year when your

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last referendum money runs out.

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What kind of cost-cutting measures

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have your schools had to undergo,

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do you know?

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Significant, you know, just over the

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last few years, numerous schools

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have been closed in

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the district.

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Now, some of that is related to

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demographic change that we're seeing

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in cities across the state of

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Wisconsin and nation are really

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seeing, but the

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way that vouchers are funded, you

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now, exacerbates this

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funding crunch for our districts.

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And so even more hard questions are

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gonna have to be asked, not just

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in this budget cycle, but as you

198
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said in years to come where.

199
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That deficit gets even larger and

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worse.

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And it's my understanding that

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the caps on the voucher

203
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program come off.

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Correct. Yeah, I mean, that's my

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understanding too. You know,

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obviously not a, not a state policy

207
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maker these days, but that's, my

208
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recollection as well that in 26, 27,

209
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you know, that, that number

210
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actually, you know gets removed.

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So we've already seen, I think a

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900% increase

213
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in the levy growth that,

214
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that is devoted to a voucher

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school spending here in the district

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over the last 10 years.

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So you can, you can know, if we

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continue on that trajectory, it's

219
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really just not sustainable.

220
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Alright, well we will be watching

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the referendum results as they come

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in on April 7 and be

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looking toward Green Bay as

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well. Mayor, thanks very much.

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Thanks for having me.

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Thank you.

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Thank you so much.

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Enjoy the weekend.

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You too.

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All right, take care. Can't come

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soon enough.