With two school districts turning to referendums this fall to make up for funding shortages, a presentation Wednesday in Sturgeon Bay will focus on one reason why.

School boards in the Sturgeon Bay and Southern Door school districts recently approved referendum questions to be placed on the fall ballot. Southern Door will ask voters to exceed the revenue limit by $2.055 million per year for three years, while Sturgeon Bay will do the same by $3.75 million per year for five years.

Local revenue is one piece of the funding puzzle for school districts and one that took a small hit earlier this month when the city of Sturgeon Bay approved the creation of a 12th tax increment district, or TID, and the expansion of TIDs 7, 9 and 10. The expansion of those TIDs can take important funding away from those districts at a time when it is at a premium.

Sturgeon Bay Mayor David Ward said earlier this month that it is a balancing act for communities like Sturgeon Bay, which is negatively affected by the current school funding formula. While he acknowledged the TIDs will prevent some money from going to the Sturgeon Bay and Southern Door school districts, he said he hopes the growth they promote will bring more families to the area, resulting in higher student enrollment.

Ahead of the presentation featuring Wisconsin Association of School Business Officials Executive Director Mike Barry, Sturgeon Bay School District Superintendent Dan Tjernagel hopes the session can provide more clarity about why some districts have to rely on referendum questions to fund parts of their operations.

Wednesday’s session will begin at 6:30 p.m. in the Sturgeon Bay High School library. The referendum questions will be on the Nov. 3 general election ballot.