MARSHFIELD, WI (OnFocus) – Marshfield citizens are receiving their annual property tax bills this week and are noting a significant increase.
The City of Marshfield addressed the tax bill, stating on social media:
“The City of Marshfield’s Finance Department wants property owners to know the tax bill is comprised of multiple taxing jurisdictions (city, school district, county and tech college). The City’s portion of the bill is increasing by only 0.7% over last year. The City doesn’t have any control over the other three jurisdictions, except for sending the bill and collecting the money. Attached is a tax bill example with the City of Marshfield portion highlighted in yellow.”
The increase is largely due to a recurring referendum for the School District of Marshfield passed by voters in 2020 and implemented in the 2021-2022 school year.
In November 2020, voters voted “YES” to approve a recurring and permanent referendum for Marshfield School District. As a recurring referendum, this means that the district was approved to seek $3.5 million each year (above State limits) on a recurring basis – at the discretion of the School Board. (In the prior two decades of elections, voters had only passed non-recurring referendums. This meant it was a one-time increase to taxes.)
The referendum voters approved in 2020 was worded on the ballot: Shall the Unified School District of Marshfield, Wood, Marathon, and Clark Counties, Wisconsin be authorized to exceed the revenue limit specified in Section 121.91, Wisconsin Statutes, by $3,500,000 beginning with the 2021-2022 school year, for recurring purposes consisting of sustaining educational programming and operational and maintenance expenses?
After Wisconsin capped levy limits in 1993, referendums have been enacted to exceed state-imposed revenue limits. State Statute outlines how a School District is to calculate its revenue. The Referendum that voters passed stated that this revenue limit could be exceeded by $3,500,000 each year. The increase is at the discretion of the School Board. So, as the revenue limit increases so does the amount of taxes permitted by the approved referendum.
At the time, the School District informed property owners that the school district portion of their tax bill would go up by 21 cents per thousand of assessed value after the referendum was approved. This was based on the formula results at the time of the vote. The formula is based on a variety of factors and can be found here. This changes each year, which is why the State Revenue Limit + amount approved by taxpayers will likely continue to rise.
For more on school referendums, click here.
More information on the Marshfield School District referendum is available here.
In 2017, OnFocus did an article explaining how the City tax bill is outlined. You can find that here.
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Author: News Desk
This piece was posted by our news team! Contact us or submit stories at [email protected].
