Revenue Limit Exemption
Charlie Schneider
CESA 10
Facilities Management Director
Ask yourself…
• Are you levying to your District’s maximum?
• Do you have capital improvement projects that
you have delayed for budgetary reasons?
Revenue Limit Exemption for Energy
Conservation Purposes
• Allows a district to increase its revenue limit
by the amount spent in that school year on
energy efficiency measures, and renewable
energy products, that result in the avoidance
of, or reduction in, energy costs.
Revenue Limit Exemption for
Energy Conservation Purposes
• 2009 Wisconsin Act 28 9-11 biennial budget
– Levy during year money is spent
• 2011 Wisconsin Act 32
– Must be governed by a performance contract
– May bond as long as 20 years
• 2013 Wisconsin Act 20
– If district issues bonds or obtains a state trust fund
loan the energy savings must be used to retire the
bond, note or state trust fund loan
Key Statutes & Rules
• 66.0133
– Governs the use of performance contracts in public
building
• 121.91
– Governs how schools in Wisconsin
use the revenue limit exemption
• Often overlooked by some providers
• PI15
– Provides rules for how schools and the DPI use the
exemption
Key Statutes & Rules
• Board must pass a resolution to utilize the exemption in the current
fiscal year (and prior/in conjunction with setting the current year’s
levy), so the resolution must be passed between July 1st &
November 1st of the year the funds will be used.
• A resolution must be passed in each year in which the exemption
is claimed, even if borrowing (so it is possible that the board will
have to approve a resolution for 20 years).
• There are reporting requirements when the exemption is used –
reporting to the community (at Annual Meeting) and at the end of
the year as to the project’s savings (data also must eventually be
entered into the DPI / SFS Team’s reporting portal)
Using the Revenue Limit
Exemption as a tool
• Complete those deferred maintenance projects
without a referendum
• Follow the steps as laid out by the DPI
• Many districts able to keep taxes stable or
only small increases
Real Life Example
• 1,600 students
• Three buildings
• No room under Revenue Limit
Real Life Example
• Nearly 3.5 million dollars in deferred
maintenance projects
– Lighting
– Pool heating
– Boilers
– Roofing and added
insulation
• Bonded 3.5 million
over 10 years
Real Life Example
• 2013 -2014 Mill Rate
• 2012-2013 Mill Rate
$10.09
$ 10.00
Another Real Life Example
• 1,271 Students
• 3 Buildings
• No room under Revenue Limit
Another Real Life Example
• Over $5 million in deferred maintenance
projects
– Lighting
– Security* (Create Vestibule for controlled entry)
– HVAC
– Safety* (Exterior Doors)
• Completed $450,000 in first year
• Working on bonding remaining $4,550,000
over 10 years
*Also has energy savings associated
Another Real Life Example
• 2013-2014 Mill Rate $11.28
• 2012-2013 Mill Rate $10.90
School energy and maintenance costs are the
greatest expenses for schools after personnel
costs.*
As school budgets dwindle and energy costs
continue to rise, fewer resources are dedicated to
school operations and maintenance.
As a result, the health and performance of our
school buildings - and our students - suffers
Ample research evidence strongly indicates that
poor air quality results in poor performance
by students and workers.
The US Environmental
Protection Agency estimates
that more than 10 million days
of schooling are lost each year by students
because of asthma attacks (EPA, 2000).
A number of studies have demonstrated a positive
correlation between appropriate lighting and higher
student achievement. Specifically:
• Good lighting quality and proper foot-candles have been
found to be positively related to increases in student
achievement and performance.
• Conversely, in schools where the lighting is less than the
minimum acceptable level and poor quality,
students did not perform as well as students
in properly illuminated school buildings.
Source: Earthman, 2004
The physical condition of our school facilities
affects the performance, comfort and stress levels
of students and teachers
alike.
A wide body of research
illuminates the relationships
between the physical and human performance of
our schools, including the links between:
• indoor air quality and rates of absenteeism and
asthma
• lighting quality and student concentration
• classroom acoustics and student attention
• access to physical activity and healthy cognitive
development
• the design and condition of facilities and academic
achievement
• the quality of school buildings and long-term staff
and teacher retention
Thank you!
Any Questions?
Charlie Schneider
CESA 10
charlie@cesa10.k12.wi.us
715-720-2176