"Earn trust, earn trust, earn trust. Then you can worry about the rest." — Seth Godin, leadership and marketing entrepreneur
When property tax bills arrive, community trust in local school districts can take a hit.
This December, more districts may be taking hits after state lawmakers threw a financial curveball by freezing total state general aid for K12 education through 2027. For many districts, this two-year state aid freeze will shift a larger school funding burden onto local property taxpayers.
It's more important than ever that superintendents, business managers and school board members communicate early and often about financial issues and what residents can expect when they open their tax bills.
But how can districts explain such complex school funding formulas?
The short answer: they must try - repeatedly. Providing regular transparent, clear and concise financial information long before and after budgets are adopted in October will help maintain trust — or at least prevent December surprises.
Districts should develop a strategic financial communication plan that uses different communication platforms to reach different audiences to share district budget priorities and challenges, as well as updates on state aid, student enrollment, property values and more.
There is no single story for all Wisconsin school districts. Every district has unique circumstances. School formulas create "winners and losers" based on student resident and open enrollment, school choice vouchers, referendum success or failure, property values, new construction and more. The Wisconsin Association of School Business Officials (WASBO) shared this helpful guide on how impacts will vary.
Districts should stick to three to five key messages; trying to communicate more will confuse and overwhelm residents.
Below are some common messages about the 2025-2027 state budget that districts can localize with their own unique situations:
For decades school districts have had revenue limits on how much money they can collect through the combination of two buckets: state general aid and school property taxes. For 2025-26, districts are allowed to collect $325 more per student. State general aid was frozen, so increases would have to come through school property taxes. The nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau estimated last summer that the average school property tax levy in Wisconsin will rise from 5.7% in 2024-25 to 7.4% in 2025-26 and 6.8% in 2026-27. Make sure to focus not just on the levy but also on the district's total revenue and expenditure increases — they will likely be closer to 3% year over year and are a critical evidence of fiscal stewardship.
The $325 per-pupil increase does not cover inflation. State revenue limits were adjusted annually for inflation until 2009. If inflation adjustments had continued, districts would have about $3,000 more per student (about $3 million for a district with 1,000 students). This $325 increase remains a major point of contention among lawmakers, with many Republicans upset that Democratic Gov. Tony Evers' so-called "400-year veto" was upheld by the courts and paved the way for this $325 increase.
While the total pot for state aid is frozen, its funds are distributed to districts based on an equalization formula that includes student enrollment. In 70% of districts, enrollment is declining. Fewer students equals less state aid. Of 421 districts, 71% (301 districts) will receive less state aid for 2025-26 than in 2024-25; 26% (111 districts) will receive more state aid. For 68 districts, state aid decreased by more than 15%. Many of the 301 districts that are receiving less state aid will have double-digit property tax increases — a result of the formulas, not of new spending. A district will have to explain, for example, that they increased spending just 3% for inflation, but their tax levy is rising 11% due to the aid freeze and formulas.
The latest state budget did substantially increase funding for special education, raising the reimbursement rate of eligible costs to 42% in 2026 and 45% in 2027, and added money for mental health support. Despite that, districts still may need to increase property taxes to cover inflation and operational expenses, again because of where they fit in the state funding formulas.
In addition to funding public schools, Wisconsin residents are paying an increasing amount for students who attend private, parochial and independent charter schools through school choice vouchers. Voucher and charter schools will receive per-pupil increases of $640 in 2026 and $428 in 2027 - higher than the public school increase. On tax bills, voucher payments are included in the public school district's tax. Some districts are working with municipalities to add language to tax bills identifying how much money will go to the public schools vs private.
Legally and ethically, public school districts must transparently share their budget expenditures, revenues, tax levies and mill rates. But effective financial communication focuses not just on numbers but on real people and real outcomes.
Districts should frame budget conversations around student benefits. Share stories of positive impacts of school funding. Highlight specific opportunities provided to students (and staff). Show innovative ways that schools are helping students reach their full potential and graduate prepared for what's next.
When talking with parents, focus on how their children will benefit from a high-quality educational system with updated curriculum; safe, well-maintained facilities with updated science labs, tech ed or other spaces; modern technology; expanded courses and extracurricular opportunities; and attraction and retention of dedicated, engaged teachers, counselors, administrators and support staff.
Discussions with staff can highlight many of the same themes, plus professional development opportunities; teacher mentoring and collaboration; fair compensation and benefits; and student behavioral training and support.
Community conversations can touch on student achievement results; graduation rates; business and higher education partnerships; positive school impacts on property values; and economic and other benefits when graduates stay and put down roots in the community.
Framing budget conversations around student benefits inspires community members to support and advocate for needed funding.
How can districts effectively share this information? Communication planning should identify different audiences and the best way to reach them. Here are some ideas:
This is typically the #1 communication preference for district staff and parents. Add brief financial updates in e-newsletters. Share links to website content with historical trend information and add visual pie charts and bar graphs. Invite community members who don't have students in schools to sign up for the district e-newsletter. Ask to include brief updates in others' newsletters (city/town, public library, chamber of commerce).
Create "Did You Know" or "Finance Friday" campaigns with budget highlights and student benefits.
Ask to speak on local radio news. Meet with local reporters. Send press releases to news outlets. Write columns in the local newspaper.
Host community forums, budget informational meetings or superintendent coffees. Meet with senior citizens, realtors, business and higher educational partners, and civic and service organizations. Invite municipal, state and federal legislators into your schools and share budget info.
This may be the best way to reach some taxpayers without children in schools, although printing costs can be prohibitive. Printed district newsletters or annual reports can share valuable context on property taxes and the results of investment in schools. Nevertheless, it may be beneficial to keep mailers as short as possible - a four-page newsletter, a single two-sided sheet, or large postcards to improve the chance that residents will read it before throwing it away.
Another audience to reach out to is other taxing entities, especially all the municipalities in the school district boundaries. Schools and municipalities have the largest levies on local tax bills, distantly followed by the state, county, technical college and any special taxing units.
Communicating with fellow government leaders can avoid one blaming another when responding to angry taxpayers. Discussions can also prevent dueling city, country or school referendums on the same ballot.
Finally, and this is too difficult to explain in this blog, but school districts only set their total property tax levy. How that levy is divided up among the municipalities in the school district - and then among all the individual taxpayers in each municipality is a mind-bending exercise in equalized and assessed values, not to mention tax-incremental financing districts (TIDs). The Sun Prairie School District has some great property tax resources on its website for those who want to dive into the details, including this Wisconsin Taxpayer article, "Understanding Property Valuation and Taxation."
If one town inside a school district's boundaries, for example, saw property values rise much higher than other towns (values are released in August), then residents in that residential or commercial "hot spot" will likely see larger tax increases than the tax rate published in the district's budget. It would be good for school superintendents to give municipalities information as early as possible - and vice versa - so both entities can make any needed budget adjustments before final adoption to help taxpayers.
Communicating financial information can be tricky and prickly but if districts regularly share honest, transparent information and focus on students benefits, they can build and maintain community trust.