Assembly Bill 81 proposes amendments to the calculation of shared costs for school districts in Wisconsin, specifically regarding expenditures funded by referenda. The bill seeks to exclude expenditures from a school district's general fund or debt service fund that are authorized by either an operating referendum or a capital referendum, provided these referenda exceed $50,000,000 and are held after the bill's enactment. However, this exclusion does not apply to school districts classified as negative tertiary school districts, which are defined as those with an equalized valuation exceeding the tertiary guaranteed valuation per member.

The bill also includes specific amendments to existing statutes. It modifies the definition of shared costs to clarify that they are subject to new provisions and excludes certain costs related to lawsuits, capital improvement trust funds, and environmental remediation projects. Additionally, it creates a new provision that explicitly states debt service on debt authorized by a referendum exceeding $50,000,000 is excluded from shared costs, again with the exception for negative tertiary school districts. These changes aim to adjust the financial calculations for equalization aid, potentially impacting funding for school districts across the state.

Statutes affected:
Bill Text: 121.07(6)(a)(intro.), 121.07, 121.07(6)(am)