Several school districts will hold a referendum this year to raise local revenue.
Five of Delaware’s 19 school districts are asking their residents to head to the polls in 2024 and vote for a local tax increase.
In the First State, districts must hold referendums if they want to increase their local school tax in order to increase local revenue.
They include the Brandywine, Red Clay Consolidated, Colonial, Smyrna and Appoquinimink.
Schools get funding from both the state and from local residents, and the referenda are for increasing that local stream of money to cover operating or capital expenses, or both.
Operating referenda is for funding that will help the district maintain its day-to-day operations, whether it be transportation expenses, supporting extracurricular programs, updating technology, giving teachers raises, hiring constables or more.
An operating referendum is noncontingent on the state.
A capital referendum typically is tied directly to state funding.
School districts annual submit a certificate of necessity to the state appealing for money for capital projects, including building maintenance. If the state approves the request, it will provide some funding for the projects.
This is typically about a 65% state, 35% local share. So, if a capital project costs $100 million, the state would provide $65 million while the district needs to muster up the remaining $35 million with local funds.
The split is sometimes more or less. For example, Colonial School District has a 60% state/40% local divide for its capital projects.
These funds could be for a new school building, a sports facility, playgrounds, parking lots, replacing roofs or HVAC systems or more.
The tricky part about capital referenda, however, is the district loses the state money if the district can’t come up with a local match. It essentially will go to another district in the next round of requests.
The Appoquinimink School District could be facing that problem.
Its December referendum failed when it sought a tax raise of $435 to help build three new school buildings at the cost of $289,841,52.
The state would cover 77%, or $223,177,971, and the local residents would cover the remaining $66,663,550 through taxes.
Residents voted against it. Appo has one more chance to pass a referendum, and if it cannot, the state will withdraw its offer.
Here’s a list of this year’s referenda.
Click on the district’s name to be redirected to its pages with referendum resources and information:
Seeking $8,618,951 in local funds for market pressure needs, already approved $98,854,141 in state-matching funds. Seeking $5,510,000 in local funds for operational costs.
Appoquinimink School District: Failed Dec. 12; Second referendum to be held Tuesday, April 23 (operating and capital referendum)
Seeking $82,903,639 in local funds, already approved $223,177,971 in state-matching funds.
Raised in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, Jarek earned a B.A. in journalism and a B.A. in political science from Temple University in 2021. After running CNN’s Michael Smerconish’s YouTube channel, Jarek became a reporter for the Bucks County Herald before joining Delaware LIVE News.
