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GREEN MEANS FILL IN THE BLANK
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School districtMenomonie Area✅
<- green check means found; red x means not found; check tab School District Names if not found
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Membership3,611
<- from tab 2025-26_Wisconsin_School_Aids_Data_Full
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TIF-Out $ 3,360,235,950
<- from tab wisconsin_school_district_mill_rates_2025-26
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Comp value (May 2017) $ 6,250,300
<- from tab May 2017 Cert Sch Values
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Total Shared Cost $ 44,404,467
<- from tab 2025-26_Wisconsin_School_Aids_Data_Full
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Equalization Aid $ 26,089,727
<- from tab 2025-26_Wisconsin_School_Aids_Data_Full
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School property tax levy $ 18,314,740
<- difference between shared cost and equalization aid
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Mill rate $ 5.60
<- from tab wisconsin_school_district_mill_rates_2025-26
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School property tax levy on $250k home $ 1,400 <- calculated from mill rate
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These next two lines need explanation. The current year's state aid spreadsheet calculates a number lower than last year's actual when using the same input (ie new construction = $0). In order to make the comparison fair, I recalculate the baseline equalization aid and school property tax revenue using the state's forecasting spreadsheet. This allows a fair apples-to-apples comparison. The baseline and the two scenarios are now using the same calculation for equalization aid and the only variable is construction. If I do not make this adjustment, then any difference created by a change in state calculation from last year to this year will create an unfair comparison between scenario and baseline.
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Baseline equalization aid recalc $ 25,188,403
<- this is recalculated from the same DPI xls used for the 2 scenarios to further isolate the single variable of construction
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Baseline school property tax levy $ 19,216,064
<- also recalc'd using the baseline equalization aid
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Scenario 1Menomonie AreaScenario 2Menomonie Area
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Explanation of CalculationsNew Construction Amount $ 1,000,000,000 New Construction Amount $ 2,000,000,000
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BeforeAfterBeforeAfter
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Before number is from extracted data above. Scenario tabs calculate the After number after adding the new construction number to the TIF-Out value.Equalization aid$25,188,403 $19,480,345 Equalization aid$25,188,403 $13,772,287
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Calculates the equalization aid as a percentage of shared costPercentage of total shared cost56.72%43.87%Percentage of total shared cost56.72%31.02%
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Scenario tabs recalculate state aid with additional valuationLost funds$5,708,058 Lost funds$11,416,117
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Calculates the lost state aid as a percentage of the property tax levyLost funds as % of property tax levy29.70%Lost funds as % of property tax levy59.41%
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Takes property tax levy from extracted values above and adds the lost state aid in order to keep the total shared cost flat to prior yearNew property tax levy $ 24,924,122 New property tax levy $ 30,632,180
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Data center valuation is added to the total valuation (TIF-Out) and then calculated as % of new totalConstruction as % of TIF-Out22.93%Construction as % of TIF-Out37.31%
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Data center contribution to new increased property tax levy is calculated as % of the data center's % of new, increased TIF-OutData center contribution to property tax levy $ 5,716,232 Data center contribution to property tax levy $ 11,429,415
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New property tax levy minus the data center's contribution to the new levy is what is left over to be paid by existing taxpayersExisting taxpayers contribution to property tax levy $ 19,216,064 $ 19,207,890 Existing taxpayers contribution to property tax levy $ 19,216,064 $ 19,202,765
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How much more existing taxpayers will pay as a result of the new data center construction
% increase to existing taxpayers property tax
0.0%
% increase to existing taxpayers property tax
-0.1%
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Assumptions
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This holds all other variables constant in an attempt to isolate the impact of adding large new valuation from a data center. It assumes no per student state allowed growth.
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The recalculations of state aid after the addition of the data centers use DPI's "simaid" spreadsheet which lacks precision but is directionally correct.
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Observations
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- Unless your state aid is already $0 or close to it, the addition of a hyperscale data center will not lower your school property tax bill.
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- Benefit to taxpayers only starts accruing when state aid is reduced to zero. Every dollar in new data center tax money reduces state aid by a dollar. When state aid hits $0, the next dollar would start to reduce existing taxpayer bills.
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- State revenue limits are not influenced by new construction. Therefore, data center construction cannot be used to justify an increase in school spending. Your school district will NOT have more money to spend from this deal.
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Open questions
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- Can you negotiate your way around this with the data center developer? Eg, could you negotiate an annual donation to the school to offset the loss of state aid? Is there any impact of that donation to state aid calculations or revenue limits?
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- Using 2025/6 actuals, the state aid simulation spreadsheet from DPI calculates a lower state aid than the actual state aid provided. Why?
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