It is important to understand the school tax increase in Cameron is NOT a result of the April 2023 referendum. It is a result of the State's biennial budget change – which increased the Cameron School District’s revenue limit of $10,000 per student for 2022-23 increased to $11,000 for 2023-24.

WHY? Because of the federal money provided during COVID, the State of Wisconsin’s previous biennial budget froze funding for public schools. The additional $1,000 per pupil was provided to fill this budget gap, and is the largest increase since 1993 when revenue limits went into effect.

For the current school year, our District levied over $3,000 less than last year for debt payments. This means our school levy created no additional tax impact.

Despite the recent per student increase to $11,000, our district is still funded at a much lower level than neighboring districts. Here is how our per pupil spending compares to other school districts in our area:

• Cameron - $11,000

• Cumberland - $12,480.78

• Chetek/Weyerhaeuser - $12,196.34

• Rice Lake - $11,951.60

• Barron - $11,721.81

Our per student revenue is over $1,000 less than the average of our neighboring school districts.

The pandemic created strains throughout our society, including public school funding. In 2020, Federal ESSER I Grants were established to help public schools respond to changes in student needs due to COVID-19. In subsequent years, additional funding was provided via ESSER II and ESSER III. Cameron School District received nearly $1.58 million over four years to support costs associated with the pandemic.

When school revenue was frozen as part of the 2021 state budget, it forced schools to rely on the federal COVID funding for operational purposes – creating a fiscal cliff for Wisconsin school districts when the funds were depleted.

Like many school districts in Wisconsin, decreasing state aid and rising costs have limited our ability to fully address facility and operational needs within annual budgets. Inflationary pressures affect all sectors, and education is no exception. To retain and attract quality staff, it is crucial that we provide fair and competitive compensation so we can continue providing the best education for our students.

For the 2023-24 school year, our District General Fund budget alone is nearly $15 million. A

1% increase for this budget costs the District $150,000. A $90,000 increase only amounts to

a .6% increase for our district and does not cover costs associated with annual inflation.

For many years, Cameron has had one of the best staff retention rates in the area, despite our wages being below average. Fewer people applying for teaching jobs has made the market extremely competitive. In order to attract and retain quality educators, our District must continue working to offer competitive wages and benefits.

There are only two ways we will be able to bridge this revenue gap – one is larger increases in state funding and the other is local referendums to increase the operational levy.

Cameron’s Facility Task Force meets monthly as we consider Phase 2 of our facilities plan and operational needs. No concrete decisions have been made yet to pursue another referendum. The $6.1 million from our April 2023 referendum funded our most significant facility needs, yet additional needs must be addressed in the coming years. Our 45-year-old high school and 24-year-old middle school require upgrades that annual budgets cannot cover. The only way our District can move forward with projects of this magnitude is through future referendums. Operational budgets are not built to handle facility needs of this nature and there is no other mechanism within the state budget to fund these facility needs.