lfb state aid and levy information for technical college districts

8/7/2019 LFB State Aid and Levy Information for Technical College Districts

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Legislative Fiscal BureauOne East Main, Suite 301 Madison, WI 53703 (608) 266-3847 Fax: (608) 267-6873

March 15, 2011

TO: Members

Wisconsin Legislature

FROM: Bob Lang, Director

SUBJECT: Wisconsin Technical College System Aid and Levy Information and Discussion of

Governor's 2011-13 Budget Proposal

This memorandum provides information relating to major revenue sources for the Wisconsin

Technical College System (WTCS) as well as a discussion of major provisions of the Governor's

budget proposal for WTCS.

The Wisconsin Technical College System receives its funding from three major sources:

property taxes, tuition and fees, and state aid. The breakdown of the three largest sources of revenue

is shown in the table below. The property tax figures include both the operational levy and the levy

for debt service. Additional sources of revenue include self-financing operations, debt proceeds,and contracted services to business and industry. WTCS receives federal funding primarily in the

form of financial aid to students, which totaled $333.4 million in 2009-10 and is partially included

in the tuition revenues shown in Table 1.

TABLE 1

Major Revenue Sources for Technical Colleges

($ in Millions)

Actual Estimated2009-10 2010-11

Property Taxes $742.6 $757.0Tuition and Fees 259.0 285.0State General Aid 119.3 119.3Other State Aid 17.7 18.8Total $1,138.6 $1,180.1


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The property tax is the largest source of revenue for the technical college system, totaling

$742.6 million in 2009-10. Current law limits the property rate levied by each WTCS district for all

purposes except debt service to $1.50 per $1,000 of the district's equalized property valuation (1.5

mills), which is referred to as the operational mill rate. Through 2008, increases in property values

allowed most districts to levy below the rate limit. However, in 2010-11, after two years of declines

in statewide property values, five districts (Fox Valley, Milwaukee, Northcentral, Southwest, andWestern) had a tax rate at the mill limit, one district had a mill rate between 1.40 and 1.45 mills,

and 10 districts had mill rates of less than 1.4 mills. While there is no statutory limitation for taxes

levied for debt service costs, a district's total indebtedness may not exceed 2% of its equalized

property valuation, and building projects costing more than $1.5 million, excluding remodeling and

expenditures financed with gifts, grants, or federal funds, are subject to mandatory referendum.

Under the budget bill, technical college operating levies would be frozen at the 2010-11 levy

amounts for 2011-12 and 2012-13. Because technical college budgets for 2011-12 are not set, it is

not possible to predict what districts would levy for 2011-12 in the absence of the proposed levy

freeze. Table 2 shows the total operational levy subject to the 1.5 mill rate limit for each districtfrom 2005-06 through 2010-11, as well as the change in the amounts levied by each district

compared to the prior year.

As shown in Table 2, the operating levy for WTCS districts increased each year. The annual

increases range from a high of $30.3 million in 2008-09 to a low of $8.4 million in 2010-11.

Operating levies in 2010-11 reflect the impact of declining district-wide property values in some

districts, with the operating levy for the Milwaukee Area Technical College being reduced by $8.8

million compared to 2009-10. Under the bill, the 2010-11 amounts represent the maximum amount

that each district could levy in the coming biennium. In the case of those districts experiencing a

loss in property value, and that are already levying the maximum possible rate, the amounts levied

could decrease again in 2011-12, rather than remain at the 2010-11 amount.


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TABLE 2

Technical College Operational Levy -- 2005-06 to 2010-11

2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11

Operational Operational Operational Operational Operational OperationalDistrict Levy Levy Levy Levy Levy Levy

Blackhawk $13,629,288 $14,115,009 $15,109,593 $15,925,359 $16,031,971 $15,888,757Chippewa Valley 22,210,408 23,260,215 24,483,919 26,075,235 28,259,190 29,599,008Fox Valley 42,978,142 45,863,112 48,068,286 50,118,006 50,646,561 50,242,456Gateway 41,545,000 43,143,282 44,825,834 47,351,262 49,242,000 51,161,000Lakeshore 14,923,500 15,574,380 16,146,300 16,826,000 17,356,000 17,711,000Madison Area 66,334,293 70,226,990 74,086,000 78,432,605 85,383,824 92,926,042Mid-State 13,377,494 14,004,030 14,648,057 15,351,538 15,812,084 16,372,910Milwaukee Area 99,378,769 104,922,969 112,819,404 119,337,577 120,315,415 111,496,432Moraine Park 24,022,893 25,056,894 26,378,155 27,631,281 29,241,845 30,147,317Nicolet 15,485,432 16,264,728 17,088,867 17,771,863 17,688,804 18,093,373

Northcentral 19,363,947 20,782,176 21,889,978 22,878,104 23,028,071 23,038,071Northeast WI 35,287,219 36,228,825 37,678,063 39,131,103 41,314,558 43,639,878Southwest WI 8,557,186 9,107,000 9,682,000 10,489,000 11,013,000 11,165,380Waukesha Co. 44,180,993 45,977,514 48,049,741 50,228,025 52,105,414 53,638,255Western 19,628,542 20,800,315 22,248,062 24,454,767 25,168,776 24,993,137WI Indianhead 25,320,496 26,571,724 27,807,693 29,261,843 30,344,642 31,277,929

Total $506,223,602 $531,899,163 $561,009,952 $591,263,568 $612,952,155 $621,390,945

Technical College Operational Levy -- Change over Prior Year 2006-07 to 2010-11

2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11Change Change Change Change Change

District Amount Amount Amount Amount Amount

Blackhawk $485,721 $994,584 $815,766 $106,612 -$143,214Chippewa Valley 1,049,807 1,223,704 1,591,316 2,183,955 1,339,818Fox Valley 2,884,970 2,205,174 2,049,720 528,555 -404,105Gateway 1,598,282 1,682,552 2,525,428 1,890,738 1,919,000Lakeshore 650,880 571,920 679,700 530,000 355,000Madison Area 3,892,697 3,859,010 4,346,605 6,951,219 7,542,218Mid-State 626,536 644,027 703,481 460,546 560,826Milwaukee Area 5,544,200 7,896,435 6,518,173 977,838 -8,818,983Moraine Park 1,034,001 1,321,261 1,253,126 1,610,564 905,472

Nicolet 779,296 824,139 682,996 -83,059 404,569Northcentral 1,418,229 1,107,802 988,126 149,967 10,000Northeast WI 941,606 1,449,238 1,453,040 2,183,455 2,325,320Southwest WI 549,814 575,000 807,000 524,000 152,380Waukesha Co. 1,796,521 2,072,227 2,178,284 1,877,389 1,532,841Western 1,171,773 1,447,747 2,206,705 714,009 -175,639WI Indianhead 1,251,228 1,235,969 1,454,150 1,082,799 933,287

Total $25,675,561 $29,110,789 $30,253,616 $21,688,587 $8,438,790


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Under the bill, state general aid to technical college districts would be reduced by $35.8

million annually in 2011-12 and 2012-13, from base level funding of $119.3 million. Reliable data

is not available to project changes in the distribution of aid by technical college district under the

bill in 2011-12 and 2012-13. However, Table 3 uses data on the distribution of aid in 2010-11 to

illustrate the potential effects of the Governor's proposed funding reduction. The first column in

Table 3 shows equalized aidable costs for each technical college district under the state general aidformula, and the second column shows the aid distribution according to data from the November,

2010 aid estimate, the most recent available estimate for the 2010-11 aid year. The third column

shows the aid distribution, based on the same November, 2010, data, if the aid level provided under

the Governor's version of the budget had applied in 2010-11. Finally, the last column shows the

amount of the change in aid for each WTCS district, had the Governor's budgeted aid level applied

in 2010-11.

TABLE 3

Technical College General Aid Distribution as ifBudget Bill Aid Level Had Applied in 2010-11

Equalized If Budget BillAidable 2010-11 Aid Level HadCosts Aid Applied in 2010-11 Change

Blackhawk $34,827,003 $4,531,700 $3,172,189 -$1,359,511Chippewa Valley 55,506,983 7,222,600 5,055,808 -2,166,792Fox Valley 96,376,045 12,540,500 8,778,333 -3,762,167Gateway 55,566,572 7,230,300 5,061,236 -2,169,064Lakeshore 27,324,831 3,555,500 2,488,860 -1,066,640Madison Area 106,665,748 13,879,400 9,715,562 -4,163,838

Mid-State 27,775,208 3,614,100 2,529,882 -1,084,218Milwaukee 190,619,364 24,803,400 17,362,409 -7,440,991Moraine Park 35,443,620 4,611,900 3,228,353 -1,383,547Nicolet Area 5,130,394 667,600 467,298 -200,302Northcentral 53,137,867 6,914,300 4,840,019 -2,074,281Northeast WI 86,462,049 11,250,500 7,875,325 -3,375,175Southwest WI 27,474,036 3,574,900 2,502,450 -1,072,450Waukesha Co. 35,278,645 4,590,500 3,213,327 -1,377,173Western 58,084,635 7,558,000 5,290,591 -2,267,409WI Indianhead 21,444,530 2,790,400 1,953,257 -837,143

TOTAL $917,117,530 $119,335,600 $83,534,900 -$35,800,700

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