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Harkening back to the Marquette poll, when asked which is more important, a majority

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of registered voters at 58 percent say they are more concerned about property taxes, while

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41 percent are more concerned about funding for K-12 public schools.

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This is voter sentiment as residents recoil over hikes in property taxes that largely

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go to fund schools, and the April 7 ballots will see more than 70 school referendum questions

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seeking additional funding from taxpayers.

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This squeeze is the result of an increase in per pupil revenue limits without accompanying

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state funding and underfunded costs of special education.

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But some districts want residents to see what else is contributing to the cost, private

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voucher schools.

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Green Bay is the first municipality in the state to show those costs on residents' property

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tax bills.

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Mayor Eric Gennrich was the tie-breaking vote to show that line item on the bills, and

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Mayor, thanks very much for being here.

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Of course, thanks so much for having me.

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So there's a lot to unpack here with all of this, but what has been the reaction in Green

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Bay of people's property tax bills this year?

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Well, I think we're feeling the crunch like everyone is across the state of Wisconsin,

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not just with property taxes, but just the cost of living generally, and I think that's

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why we're seeing some of those answers that you were highlighting through the Marquette

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law poll.

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People are really struggling with the cost of living these days, and property taxes

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are a pretty big number, and they're really tangible, and people see those annually, and

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so we're certainly feeling that feedback as well.

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What we've advocated for, both for public education, but more specifically with municipal

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government funding, is more assistance from the state of Wisconsin.

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We've made some progress in that regard with some reforms made to the Shared Revenue Program,

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but we would love a more diversified revenue stream with local sales tax options being

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available to pull down those property taxes, which are, you know, they're just out of

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line when you compare the state of Wisconsin to a lot of other states across the country.

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I see that Green Bay schools will not go to referendum on April 7, but is looking at

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a deficit and will seek one in November.

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Why is this the same all over Wisconsin?

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Well, I think you referenced, you know, the school funding formula really is broken in

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the state of Wisconsin, and it has been broken for some time.

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Green Bay Area Public Schools is also involved in a lawsuit that law forward is bringing

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forward with some other school districts across the state to essentially make that case to

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our courts and ultimately probably to our state Supreme Court to say that, you know,

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we have our kids and our residents have a constitutional right to sound basic education

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in the state of Wisconsin, and we don't feel as though I don't feel, and I think a lot

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of people don't feel, that the state is meeting its obligation in that regard.

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How well do these explanations resonate with your taxpayers?

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I think people appreciate it, you know, nobody ever really likes paying a property tax bill,

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but they want to know where those funds are going.

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And so when this was brought forward to our common council, that really was the winning

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argument.

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It's something that our public school district has been calling for for several years.

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Our previous council shot it down.

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This council moved it forward and allowed us to work with the Department of Revenue,

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with our county treasurer to figure out exactly, you know, how we could place this information

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on the bill.

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But, you know, for Green Bay Area, taxpayers, $14 million is going for this purpose, just

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under $10 million for the city of Green Bay proper, so that's a big number.

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You break it down to the average homeowner, you know, $300,000 home.

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I think that's about $270 going for this voucher program.

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So again, I was going to back up and suggest that what you're talking about there is the

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line item of the voucher schools on the property tax bill.

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And again, in your mind, why is that important to delineate?

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Well, again, this was something that our school district felt very strongly about for some

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time.

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They brought it to our common council.

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And we just felt like transparency is really the best answer here.

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I think a lot of people assume public dollars are going to public schools.

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When you show this to them, it tends to raise some questions.

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But even if you're an advocate of private voucher schools, you know, I think this enables one

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to make that argument, you know, the system that we have in place is the one that voucher

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advocates have asked for at the state of Wisconsin.

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And so if they're not comfortable with it, you know, they should bring forward an alternate

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way of funding education in the state of Wisconsin.

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And I know that, you know, public school advocates have been doing that for some time, and we're

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certainly looking forward to seeing how that lawsuit moves forward and how the legislature

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responds to this debate in the next session.

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Meanwhile, it looks like Green Bay schools will be even worse off, deficit-wise, in the

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27-28 school year when your last referendum money runs out.

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What kind of cost-cutting measures have your schools had to undergo, do you know?

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Significant, you know, just over the last few years, numerous schools have been closed

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in the district.

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You know, some of that is related to demographic change that we're seeing, and cities across

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the state of Wisconsin and nation are really seeing.

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But the way that vouchers are funded, you know, exacerbates this funding crunch for our districts.

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And so even more hard questions are going to have to be asked, not just in this budget

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cycle, but as you said in years to come where that deficit gets even larger and worse.

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And it's my understanding that the caps on the voucher program come off soon.

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Correct.

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Yeah, I mean, that's my understanding, too.

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You know, obviously not a state policymaker these days, but that's my recollection as

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well, that in 26-27, you know, that number actually, you know, gets removed.

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So we've already seen, I think, a 900 percent increase in the levy growth that is devoted

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to voucher school spending here in the district over the last 10 years.

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So you can, you know, if we continue on that trajectory, it's really just not sustainable.

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All right.

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Well, we will be watching the referendum results as they come in on April 7 and be looking

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toward Green Bay as well.

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Mayor, thanks very much.

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Thanks for having me.

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Thank you.

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Yeah.

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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.

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Take care.

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Can't come soon enough.