Impact of the Dane County Circuit Court Decision Regarding Acts 10 and 32
By Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance staff | September 20, 2012
The Boardman & Clark law firm recently posted a legal update regarding the impact of the Dane County Circuit Court decision on Acts 10 & 32. The SAA believes this is valuable information for SAA members. We regularly receive these updates and have chosen to distribute this information to the SAA membership with the permission of the Boardman & Clark law firm.
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AG Seeks Stay of Act 10 Court Decision
By Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance staff | September 18, 2012
From WisPolitics.com …
J.B. Van Hollen today asked a Dane County judge to stay his decision overturning the guv’s collective bargaining changes as the attorney general appeals that ruling.
The Department of Justice argued in a brief that granting a stay would provide certainty for municipalities and school districts in determining employee compensation, work rules and their budgets “without having the rug pulled out from under them if this Court’s decision is reversed.”
The agency noted at some point litigation over Act 10 will be over “and there will be a definitive answer as to whether it meets the requirements of state and federal constitutions.” A stay would ensure state law is followed “unless and until it has been invalidated for our state’s appellate courts after full consideration.”
“In the meantime, it does not serve the public interest for parts of the law to be invalidated only to have them restored on appeal,” DOJ wrote.
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Evers Proposes Use of ACT Suite
By Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance staff | September 12, 2012
At 10:00 a.m. this morning, State Superintendent Tony Evers announced a major budget initiative in which he proposes that all Wisconsin school districts administer the four-test ACT Suite for career planning and accountability puposes.
Please see the DPI News Release and Proposal Summary for more information.
This is great news for the SAA and for all Wisconsin school children. As you know, the SAA, through the work of our Student Assessment Project Team, has long advocated using the ACT Suite for career planning and accountability purposes at the secondary level. I want to thank each and everyone of the members of the SAA Student Assessment Project Team for all their efforts in making this happen.
My hat is off to all of those team members and to State Superintendent Tony Evers.
I will keep you updated on any further developments on this topic.
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WISTAX: Levy Increase Smallest Since 1997
By Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance staff | September 10, 2012
Statewide property tax levies increased by just 0.2 percent in 2012, the smallest increase since 1997, according to a report by the Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance.
The analysis said state taxpayers paid $9.36 billion in net property taxes this year.
Municipal property tax levies increased 1.6 percent to $2.46 billion, topped in the state’s largest municipalities by double-digit increases in Middleton and Manitowoc.
Levies on the county level rose 1.1 percent to $1.97 billion, topped by Crawford County’s 6.3 percent increase.
Statewide school property taxes dropped 1 percent, the first decline since 2006, while technical college levies increased 1.8 percent to $771.3 million.
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2012 Revenue Collections Exceed Projections
By Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance staff | September 10, 2012
From WisPolitics.com …
The Department of Revenue reported today the state took in $126.6 million more in general purpose revenue in the 2011-12 fiscal year than what the agency had projected in May.
It was the second time in four months the state got good news on the revenue front, and half of the additional collections will go toward the budget stabilization fund under state law. The Legislative Fiscal Bureau said the rest of the money will go toward the state’s bottom line at the end of the current biennium in 2013.
The DOR report, which covers the fiscal year that ended June 30, does not account for any changes in state expenses compared to what was budgeted. But LFB said if the state meets projected costs, it will now end the two-year budget with a surplus of $274.1 million.
See the DOR release.
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