The City of Manitowoc wants more time before deciding on information to tax bills.
The city’s Committee of the Whole tabled a motion to add an insert about rate breakdowns for major taxing entities.
Manitowoc Public School Superintendent Lee Thenees, Two Rivers Public Schools Superintendent Diane Johnson, and TRPS Finance Director Mary Kay Slattery again spoke about adding a line showing how much money goes to voucher schools on City of Manitowoc tax bills.
In their presentation, the educators said voucher students, or students who leave a public school to attend a private school, are becoming more costly for their districts.
Thennes says this year, the amount of money for MPSD will be close to $7 million. District leaders then asked the Common Council to either add a line to tax bills including the voucher numbers or include an insert explaining what’s going out.
Some of Manitowoc’s alderpersons had questions about what it actually does to help the district, which they’ve asked previously.
Mayor Justin Nickels says he’s not in favor of adding the line.
“I’ve been in local government for over 20 years and when I read of the amount levied by Green Bay Public Schools, $8.9 plus million is for the purpose of private school vouchers. I don’t know what that means,” Mayor Nickels explained. “I mean, I get that $8.9 million, but what is their total levy?”
Nickels is talking about the example Thennes used after the City of Green Bay added the line to their tax bills.
In the end, he, too, thought that adding a line to the tax bills wouldn’t get the point across.
Council President Eric Sitkiewitz also asked the educators if they wanted to use the extra line to change the voucher program at the state level.
Thennes says no, but he does want to make it clearer how much MPSD is actually spending.
“I’m uncomfortable with the idea that they see the $30 million levy, and there’s only one thing to assume: that it’s all going to us unless it’s specifically stated that it isn’t a my tax bill,” he stated. “If I get Manitowoc Public School District Levy $30 million and I don’t know about the voucher program, I only have one thing to assume. That the school district is spending $30 million of that money.”
5th District Alderman Mason Benzinger then explained that he felt residents would want numbers from all major taxing entities, like the city, county, MPSD, and Lakeshore College.
He then moved to create the insert for all future tax bills.
“The informational piece should include the specific mill rates, estimated tax impact per $100,000 assessed property value for each taxing entity, including Manitowoc County, Manitowoc Public School District, Lakeshore College, and the City of Manitowoc, and distinct data outlining the financial cost of private school vouchers to the Manitowoc Public School District, using metrics provided by MPSD,” he suggested.
With Manitowoc council members wanting more information, the Committee of the Whole voted to table the motion until next month.
Sitkiewitz says he will bring the topic back up at a future Committee of the Whole meeting.
MPSD is working to add the voucher payment line after the City of Two Rivers voted to add it to its tax bills earlier this month.
