> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://foxwatershed.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Green Bay Schools Propose a Lower Tax Rate as a $158 Million Referendum Nears - URL: https://foxwatershed.com/green-bay-schools-budget-tax-rate-referendum/ - Published: 2026-10-13T06:02:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-21T06:04:18.000Z - Description: The Green Bay Area Public School District's proposed budget drops the mill rate to $7.07 while the levy rises 1.22%, three weeks before voters decide a four-year, $158 million operating referendum. - Author: Fox Watershed Staff - Tags: Green Bay Area Public Schools, Education, Green Bay The Green Bay Area Public School District's proposed 2026-27 budget would lower its property tax rate from $7.41 to $7.07 per $1,000 of equalized value while raising the total levy 1.22%, Chief Financial Officer Angie Roble told the school board, [WTAQ reported](https://wtaq.com/2026/10/13/green-bay-school-district-proposes-budget-with-mill-rate-drop-1-22-levy-increase/?ref=foxwatershed.com). The board votes Oct. 26 on the roughly $313.5 million operating budget, a week before voters decide whether to let the district exceed state revenue limits by $158 million over four years. Roble called the plan "a reflection of the difficult but necessary work" the district has done. Much of that work has been shrinking. The budget reflects the consolidation of three schools and the closing of the district's virtual school, [FOX 11 reported](https://fox11online.com/news/local/green-bay-school-board-to-host-two-2026-27-budget-meetings-in-october-district-operational-referendum-costs-special-education-salary?ref=foxwatershed.com), and the district has cut more than 100 full-time positions over the last few years as enrollment declines, according to WTAQ. The district serves more than 17,000 students. Total salary spending drops 1.65%, WTAQ reported. Employees get a 2.63% base raise, matching the inflation figure the district cited, but those moving through the salary schedule won't receive a step increase this year, according to FOX 11. ## Why the rate falls while the levy rises The levy is the total dollars the district collects from property owners, and the mill rate spreads that total across the value of taxable property. Equalized values in the district's attendance area rose an average of 6.07% this year, with individual municipalities ranging from 3.94% to 13.01%, FOX 11 reported. That growth outpaced the levy increase, so the rate falls. Roble noted the increase is far smaller than last year's, which topped 5%. Whether a given homeowner's bill goes up or down depends on how much their property's value rose, WTAQ reported. A homeowner in a municipality near the top of that range could still pay more even at the lower rate. The levy also carries an estimated $14.7 million for private school voucher payments, according to FOX 11\. Per-pupil voucher payments rise 3.9% for kindergarten through eighth grade, 3.2% for high school and 2.9% for special education vouchers. ## A special education gap the state didn't close The 2025-27 state budget was projected to reimburse 42% of districts' special education costs in 2025-26 and 45% in 2026-27, according to a [Legislative Fiscal Bureau memo](https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/misc/lfb/misc/188%5F2025%5F26%5Festimated%5Fspecial%5Feducation%5Fproration%5Frate%5F11%5F20%5F25.pdf?ref=foxwatershed.com). Because lawmakers funded that aid as a fixed dollar amount and statewide costs grew about 9% rather than the 4% assumed, the Department of Public Instruction set the interim 2025-26 rate at 35%, the memo says. Green Bay isn't counting on the promised 45%. It budgeted 38%, based on last year's actual rate, leaving an estimated $5 million gap, and plans to move $33.3 million from its general fund to cover special education, FOX 11 reported. Private voucher schools, by comparison, are reimbursed for 90% of special education costs with no fixed cap, the statewide teachers union [WEAC noted](https://weac.org/new-bill-would-force-state-to-make-good-on-special-education-funding-promises/?ref=foxwatershed.com) in backing a bill that would require the state to pay public districts the full budgeted rate. ## The referendum The Nov. 3 question asks voters to let the district exceed its revenue limit for operating and maintenance costs by $29 million in 2027-28, $36 million in 2028-29, $44 million in 2029-30 and $49 million in 2030-31, according to the [district's referendum page](https://www.gbaps.org/fs/pages/12584?ref=foxwatershed.com). The district says the money would keep class sizes stable and preserve existing programs, not add new ones. It would replace a 10-year operating referendum that expires this school year, [Spectrum News reported](https://spectrumnews1.com/wi/milwaukee/news/2026/09/23/green-bay-school-district-1-million-referendum-budget-pressure?ref=foxwatershed.com), and this budget includes the last year of that revenue. The district's page is headlined with a promise that property taxes won't increase because of an approved referendum, though its text says state funding, inflation or the housing market may affect the final rate. A chart on the page projects a $7.41 mill rate with the referendum. If voters say no, Roble told WTAQ, the district would go back to the ballot in April, and failure could mean more consolidations, staff layoffs or program cuts. Superintendent Mike Hernandez [told FOX 11 in September](https://fox11online.com/news/crisis-in-the-classroom/voters-learn-more-about-green-bay-schools-referendum-thatll-appear-on-november-ballot?ref=foxwatershed.com) that "everything is on the table" if it fails, and said more than 40% of Wisconsin school districts have gone to referendum in the past three years. Nine other Northeast Wisconsin districts have referendums on the November ballot, FOX 11 reported. Board trustee Laura McCoy told WTAQ that returning to voters so soon after the last referendum is something the district has no choice but to do. Green Bay voters approved a $183 million referendum in November 2024, [42,120 to 21,691](https://digital-release.wearegreenbay.com/election/green-bay-area-public-school-districts-thanks-voters-for-supporting-183-million-referendum/amp/?ref=foxwatershed.com). Not every resident is convinced. At a September listening session, Green Bay resident Dennis Christenson told Spectrum News his taxes had climbed over the past two years and said he would probably support a smaller request.