Here in Franklin we know this all too well.

A new data report released today shows that voters have raised taxes by $9.7 billion in school referenda in the last 19 years. The analysis, released by the Wheeler Report, provides an extensive look into the history of referenda since 1999.

The data report shows that the percentage and dollar amount of referenda passed is increasing. That’s a shift away from earlier years, when referenda were far less likely to pass, and tended to be for smaller dollar amounts.

For the first half of 2018 through July 1, 85 percent of 71 referenda passed, totaling $603 million. By comparison, in 1999, 46 percent of 167 referenda passed. In that year, more than $1 billion in referenda-driven tax increases were approved by voters.

Related reading:

The school referendum scam in Franklin and throughout SE WI