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TO: Members
Wisconsin Legislature
SUBJECT: Hypothetical Illustration of the General School Aid Provisions of the Governor’s 2011-
13 Budget Bill
This memorandum provides information on the general school aids provisions of the
Governor’s budget bill, discusses why general school aid projections for the 2011-12 and 2012-13
school years cannot be done, and illustrates the hypothetical effect of those provisions as if they had
been enacted for the 2010-11 aid year.
The general school aids appropriation funds equalization, integration, and special adjustment
aid. Almost all of the funding in the appropriation is distributed through the equalization aid
formula. A major objective of the equalization aid formula is tax base equalization. The formula
operates under the principle of equal tax rate for equal per pupil expenditures. There is an inverse
relationship between equalization aid and property valuations. Districts with low per pupil property
valuations receive a larger share of their costs through the formula than districts with high per pupil
property valuations.
Special adjustment aid is funded as a first draw from the general aid appropriation. This aid
is equal to the amount needed to make an eligible district's total general aid eligibility in the current
year equal to 85% of the district’s prior year general aid payment.
Under the 2011-13 budget bill (Senate Bill 27/Assembly Bill 40), funding in the general
school aids appropriation would decrease from $4,652,500,000 in 2010-11 to $4,261,954,000 in
2011-12 and $4,293,658,000 in 2012-13. This would result in changes of -8.4% and 0.7%,
respectively, compared to the prior year. The bill would also provide that, for the 2011-12
distribution of general aid, special adjustment aid would be calculated based on 90% of a district’s
prior year general aid payment. This provision would further limit the year-to-year decline in a
district’s general aid payment in 2011-12. The current law 85% provision would resume beginning
in the 2012-13 aid year.
The equalization aid formula is calculated using school district data (pupil membership,
shared costs, and equalized valuations) from the prior school year. For example, 2011-12 aid will
be calculated using membership and shared costs from the 2010-11 school year and 2010 equalized
values. Reliable data to project 2011-12 general aid is not available at this time. Budgeted cost and
unaudited membership for the 2010-11 school year that is currently available will likely differ
significantly from the audited data that will be available later in the calendar year. Data on
equalized value by district will be available later in the spring. No information is currently
available to project 2012-13 general aid.
The first statewide estimates of general aid for 2011-12 will be made on July 1, 2011, while
2012-13 estimates will be made on July 1, 2012. By law, DPI is statutorily required to prepare
general aid distributions by July 1 and October 15 of each year, using the most accurate data
available. The July 1 distribution is an estimate that uses budgeted shared cost information rather
than audited data. The October 15 distribution uses audited cost data, and districts use this estimate
to set their levies under revenue limits.
To provide some indication of the effects of the general aid provisions of the bill, this
memorandum shows the distribution of general aid for 2010-11, the most recent year for which
audited data is available, as if the general aid provisions of the bill had been in effect for that year.
While this does not give any indication of the aid districts will receive in 2011-12 or 2012-13, it can
provide an illustration of the possible magnitude of the changes, both in comparison to what
districts received in the prior 2009-10 aid year and to what districts received in 2010-11 under
current law.
The attachment shows, for each district, the net general aid payment received in 2009-10 and
2010-11 under current law, and the change in aid between the two years, both in dollar and
percentage terms. The bill also shows the hypothetical aid payment each district would have
received in 2010-11 if the general aid provisions of the bill (the funding reduction and the
modification to special adjustment aid) had been in effect for the distribution of aid in that year.
Also shown is the change in aid between the two years under this hypothetical illustration, both in
dollar and percentage terms. (The payments shown in the attachment are net of aid reductions for
Milwaukee for the Milwaukee parental choice program and statewide for the Milwaukee and
Racine charter school program. The minor, temporary reallocation of aid under the Act 28
adjustment is not reflected in the 2010-11 payments to more clearly illustrate the effects of the bill.)
Districts shown in the attachment with an approximately 15% reduction in aid between the
current law actual aid payments in 2009-10 and 2010-11 would have generally been those districts
eligible for special adjustment aid in 2010-11, while the districts with an approximately 10%
reduction in aid between the actual 2009-10 aid payment and the 2010-11 hypothetical aid payment
would have generally been those districts eligible for special adjustment aid in that year had the
provisions of the bill been in effect. (The percentages are not exact due to changes in the choice
and charter aid reductions.)
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On a statewide basis, the reduction in aid funding under the bill in combination with the
increase in the special adjustment aid percentage would result in more aid being distributed as a
first draw under special adjustment and less aid being distributed through the equalization aid
formula compared to current law. Under current law, in 2010-11, $4,548.0 million in equalization
aid and $25.6 million in special adjustment aid eligibility was generated. Using the hypothetical
2010-11 aid distribution as an illustration, $3,939.0 million in equalization aid eligibility and
$248.2 million in special adjustment aid eligibility would have been generated. As noted above, the
distribution of equalization and special adjustment aid in 2011-12 and 2012-13 cannot be projected
at this time.
If a district would be eligible for special adjustment aid in 2011-12 under both current law
and the bill provision, the special adjustment aid provision of the bill would result in a relative
increase in aid in 2011-12 compared to current law for those districts. For those districts that would
otherwise not be eligible for special adjustment aid under current law in 2011-12 but would be as a
result of the bill provision, the aid reduction resulting from the overall funding reduction in the
appropriation is smaller than it otherwise would be in 2011-12 compared to current law. The
special adjustment aid provision applies for only 2011-12 under the bill. Larger aid reductions in
2012-13 could be possible as a result of returning to the 85% threshold under the bill in that year.
RK/le
Attachment
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ATTACHMENT
Hypothetical Illustration of General School Aid Provisions of Governor's Budget Bill As If Effective in 2010-11 Aid Year
Page 5
Current Law As If Bill Had Applied
2010-11 Change to 2009-10 2010-11 Change to 2009-10
2009-10 Net 2010-11 Net 2010-11 Hypothetical
School District Payment Payment Amount Percent Net Payment* Amount Percent
Page 6
Current Law As If Bill Had Applied
2010-11 Change to 2009-10 2010-11 Change to 2009-10
2009-10 Net 2010-11 Net 2010-11 Hypothetical
School District Payment Payment Amount Percent Net Payment* Amount Percent
Page 7
Current Law As If Bill Had Applied
2010-11 Change to 2009-10 2010-11 Change to 2009-10
2009-10 Net 2010-11 Net 2010-11 Hypothetical
School District Payment Payment Amount Percent Net Payment* Amount Percent
Page 8
Current Law As If Bill Had Applied
2010-11 Change to 2009-10 2010-11 Change to 2009-10
2009-10 Net 2010-11 Net 2010-11 Hypothetical
School District Payment Payment Amount Percent Net Payment* Amount Percent
Page 9
Current Law As If Bill Had Applied
2010-11 Change to 2009-10 2010-11 Change to 2009-10
2009-10 Net 2010-11 Net 2010-11 Hypothetical
School District Payment Payment Amount Percent Net Payment* Amount Percent
Lake Geneva-Genoa UHS 2,370,095 2,011,453 -358,642 -15.1 2,127,337 -242,758 -10.2
Lake Holcombe 842,736 707,012 -135,724 -16.1 747,745 -94,991 -11.3
Lake Mills Area 5,988,129 6,287,781 299,652 5.0 5,375,720 -612,409 -10.2
Lakeland UHS 122,430 103,903 -18,527 -15.1 109,891 -12,539 -10.2
Lancaster Community 6,404,001 6,128,844 -275,157 -4.3 5,748,464 -655,537 -10.2
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Current Law As If Bill Had Applied
2010-11 Change to 2009-10 2010-11 Change to 2009-10
2009-10 Net 2010-11 Net 2010-11 Hypothetical
School District Payment Payment Amount Percent Net Payment* Amount Percent
Page 11
Current Law As If Bill Had Applied
2010-11 Change to 2009-10 2010-11 Change to 2009-10
2009-10 Net 2010-11 Net 2010-11 Hypothetical
School District Payment Payment Amount Percent Net Payment* Amount Percent
Page 12
Current Law As If Bill Had Applied
2010-11 Change to 2009-10 2010-11 Change to 2009-10
2009-10 Net 2010-11 Net 2010-11 Hypothetical
School District Payment Payment Amount Percent Net Payment* Amount Percent
Page 13
Current Law As If Bill Had Applied
2010-11 Change to 2009-10 2010-11 Change to 2009-10
2009-10 Net 2010-11 Net 2010-11 Hypothetical
School District Payment Payment Amount Percent Net Payment* Amount Percent
Page 14
Current Law As If Bill Had Applied
2010-11 Change to 2009-10 2010-11 Change to 2009-10
2009-10 Net 2010-11 Net 2010-11 Hypothetical
School District Payment Payment Amount Percent Net Payment* Amount Percent
Page 15
Current Law As If Bill Had Applied
2010-11 Change to 2009-10 2010-11 Change to 2009-10
2009-10 Net 2010-11 Net 2010-11 Hypothetical
School District Payment Payment Amount Percent Net Payment* Amount Percent
Page 16
Current Law As If Bill Had Applied
2010-11 Change to 2009-10 2010-11 Change to 2009-10
2009-10 Net 2010-11 Net 2010-11 Hypothetical
School District Payment Payment Amount Percent Net Payment* Amount Percent
Page 17
Current Law As If Bill Had Applied
2010-11 Change to 2009-10 2010-11 Change to 2009-10
2009-10 Net 2010-11 Net 2010-11 Hypothetical
School District Payment Payment Amount Percent Net Payment* Amount Percent
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