KENOSHA, Wis. ─ When voters overwhelmingly rejected the Kenosha Unified School District’s $115 million referendum last year, it was supposed to send a clear message: taxpayers had reached their limit. The proposal wasn’t narrowly tailored. It wasn’t modest. It was sweeping, expensive, and poorly justified. And while many assumed the referendum would pass, it didn’t — including in traditionally Democratic-leaning areas. Voters from across the political spectrum said no.
What followed feels less like fiscal necessity and more like punishment.
This year, property tax bills went up sharply, and the explanation from Kenosha Unified School District has been both predictable and disingenuous. Once again, the district’s leadership points the finger at the state. Blame the Legislature. Blame the funding formula. Blame anyone except the people actually setting the local levy.
Here’s the reality many families are seeing on their own tax bills.
In 2024, my family paid $1,645 in property taxes toward the school district. This year, that number jumped to $2,001.26 — a 21.6% increase in a single year. That is not a rounding error. That is not inflation. That is not “flat” spending. That is a massive hit to household budgets at a time when groceries, utilities, and insurance are already squeezing families dry.
The district insists this wasn’t caused by new or expanded local spending. But that claim collapses under even minimal scrutiny.
For years, KUSD leadership sold “right-sizing” as the solution. Close schools. Consolidate buildings. Reduce overhead. Save money. Taxpayers were told these painful changes were necessary and that they would stabilize the district’s finances. Yet after all that disruption, taxes are soaring anyway. If right-sizing was supposed to save money, where are the savings?
Instead, we’re told the increase is unavoidable because the state failed to fully fund a per-pupil increase, because aid was redistributed, because voucher and charter school levies rose. Those explanations may be technically accurate in isolation, but taken together they form a convenient smokescreen.
The school board still controls the local levy. The board still decides how aggressively to tax homeowners. And the board made a choice.
What makes this especially galling is the timing. Voters had just rejected a $115 million referendum. The district didn’t get the money it wanted at the ballot box. Months later, taxpayers open their bills and see a double-digit increase anyway. The message received by many homeowners is unmistakable: if you won’t give us the money voluntarily, we’ll take it another way.
(File Photo by Kevin Mathewson, Kenosha County Eye)
Superintendent Jeff Weiss has offered an explanation that strains credibility. Framing this increase as an unavoidable consequence of state policy glosses over the district’s own decisions and long-standing spending habits. At best, the explanation is misleading. At worst, it crosses into outright dishonesty.
This matters because there is a school board election coming up.
Voters deserve straight answers, not talking points. They deserve to know why promised savings never materialized, why taxes jumped more than 20% in a single year, and why accountability always seems to flow upward to Madison but never inward to the boardroom.
Kenosha County Eye will be reaching out to every school board candidate to get answers to the questions taxpayers are asking right now. And there are many.
Kenosha taxpayers are furious — and they have every right to be. The referendum failed because it was reckless. Raising taxes anyway feels like retribution. Voters noticed then, and they’re paying attention now.
24 Responses
Let’s be honest they have to pay for lawyers and pay outs for hiring so may groomers. Kusd is a joke, lowest academic enrollment rate in decades and they need more money then ever. Overpaid lazy bums
How do we lower the superintendent’s pay? He’s there for the people, right?
Increased security was part of referendum voted down. Cost was included in the new budget
$240,000 a year for the superintendent!? What a joke!
He went from around 160k a year at his previous district to 240k plus a fat benefit package. Public records are out there.
$240k a year and he can’t perform his number #1 duty which is to protect the students! This asshole should have stepped down a long ago but his ego and bank account are too big at this point!
The KUSD portion of my tax bill went up 25%. Paying more for fewer students and dismal performance. This is another wake up call otherwise we will continue to get what they/them continue to vote for.
ours did too. We are on fixed incomes, have no kids in school and when we did, we homeschooled–we get the shaft every which way
My taxes went up $600, all for the kusd increase. Why are these public servants paid more than private workers?
Pay for play.
You know what the answer is: If you can’t afford it, move somewhere else!
Now this is something we need to go down and PROTEST peacefully. At THE KUSD BUILDING.
No kings!
🤣🤣🤣🤣
Thanks for the article! I work in the private sector and when you have a budget shortfall, you have to cut spending and make tough decisions. You eliminate positions, you freeze pay, you find lower cost health insurance options, you put more of the burden on the employees to pay more for their insurance. No one likes these options but that is what businesses do to survive. KUSD doesn’t seem to understand that.
I didn’t look through the budget lines but I do remember hearing that they were filling open and adding teacher positions with declining enrollment. I can only guess that a fully burdened teacher salary averages $100K/annually. No idea what the total number is but every 10 positions is a million dollars annually. It all adds up but the “knuckleheads” that have all the advanced degrees can’t seem to figure it out and forget about the left leaning lopsided school board…….most of them are clueless on how to control costs
They just gave the taxpayers a big F you.
they sure did
Great job as always Kevin. 👏🏻
Once again, Kevin, excellent article, exposing the rot amongst KUSD.. did you ever post the salaries for holidays individuals that are over paying under work on 52nd St… The raise for the superintendent is a slap in the face for what we get in this town.
Weis is a snake, as are most of the other school board members. They are bleeding us dry while still producing graduates who cannot read, construct a sentence without AI, or compute simple math problems. KUSDs only claim to fame is having a well-stocked library of pornography and LGBTQ content. We need to vote the whole lot of them out and get rid of Weis immediately. He is an overpaid snob who only cares about his fat wallet
Live in pleasant prairie kusd taxes went up 25%
Kevin you should do a story about the Indian trail scoreboard. How is the school paying for that new scoreboard ? Because u can’t find any thing about it in public records
I suggest you all research about this before getting upset. The district has to make up for expired state aid that ate a large chunk of the bill. This is a proven fact.
Imagine you need $1000 monthly. person A pitches in $600 and you pitch in $400. 4 years later person A only gives you $200 – you yourself need to make up that $800.
The school district isn’t getting any more money than they did last year. The cost per pupil is the exact same, but it’s being made up for in lost state aid.
You are missing the point……just because you get less money doesn’t you burden the taxpayers with the entire amount. Find cuts and soften the impact. Based on what I saw, they are still adding heads, still giving raises, still offering unreal health insurance at very low costs to employees.
Consolidate more schools and better utilize these empty city busses riding around if need be to get the kids to school.
Statement from KUSD: If you can’t afford it, move somewhere else!