Tuesday, the nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau released numbers confirming what Governor Walker has been saying all along regarding the amount of savings realized from the budget repair bill.
According to fiscal bureau, the savings realized from the pension reforms alone in the budget repair bill will account for a majority of the school aid reductions in proposed 2011-2013 biennial budget.
When at least $68 million of savings is factored in for school districts switching from the expensive WEA Trust health insurance program to the state plan or another private insurance plan, the proportion of savings to reductions improves -- and that is before an increase in the amount of money employees pay toward their health insurance is factored in, the governor said.
Steve Lyons, public affairs director with WEA Trust, said the governor's figure is based on a 2005 report by the Wisconsin Policy Research Institute, and the Legislative Fiscal Bureau has not calculated the local impact of changes in health insurance contributions.
In the Superior school district, savings from changes in are expected to total $1,549,100. Maple school district would save $455,600 and Solon Springs would save he$124,900 in retirement contributions, according to the Legislative Fiscal Bureau.
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The main reason school aids are declining is because in the previous biennial budget, $789 million was used from the federal stimulus to backfill general fund aid shortfalls to K-12 education. Walker's budget addresses the hole left from the use of one-time money without widespread layoffs or massive tax increases by enacting pension and health insurance reforms.
Additionally, the fiscal bureau's numbers show the savings that will materialize from the pension reforms at the local levels of government.
According to the fiscal bureau, the savings resulting from WRS contributions made by employees would save Superior $443,200 and Douglas County $548,300 based on 2009 employment figures. It would also net savings in the towns of Bennett, Dairyland, Maple, Parkland, Summit, Superior and Wascott, and the villages of Lake Nebagamon.
The Superior Housing Authority is expected to save about $57,000
"With the state facing a massive budget deficit, high unemployment, and an ever growing government that taxpayers can no longer afford to support, I stood up to the status quo and introduced a bold set of reforms that improve services and control costs," Walker said in a prepared statement. "The numbers released by the Legislative Fiscal Bureau today show that the reforms contained in the budget will avoid layoffs and protect middle class taxpayers all across Wisconsin, in addition to the changes to collective bargaining which will ultimately improve education."
