Wisconsin · Lodi · Columbia County · CESA 05

Lodi School District

District briefing, fall 2026: survey results alongside enrollment, achievement, finances and property taxes.

On the ballot · November 3, 2026

Lodi School District: 2 referendum questions

Question 1

Shall the School District of Lodi, Columbia and Dane Counties, Wisconsin be authorized to exceed the revenue limit specified in Section 121.91, Wisconsin Statutes, by $5,980,000 per year for five years, beginning with the 2027-2028 school year and ending with the 2031-2032 school year, for non-recurring purposes consisting of operational expenses for instructional and educational programming, technology updates and staff compensation?

Source: county clerk notice

Question 2

Shall the School District of Lodi, Columbia and Dane Counties, Wisconsin be authorized to issue pursuant to Chapter 67 of the Wisconsin Statutes, general obligation bonds in an amount not to exceed $13,200,000 for the public purpose of paying the cost of a school facility improvement project consisting of: renovations at the High School, including to the career and technical educational spaces, indoor pool, and athletic and pool locker rooms; construction of athletic practice fields, a varsity baseball field and corresponding site improvements at the Primary School; and acquisition of furnishings, fixtures and equipment?

Source: county clerk notice

Enrollment
1,514
2024-25
Revenue-limit members
1,446
2025-26 funding count
Enrollment, 5 yr
−0.7%
headcount change · peers −3.6%
Forward ELA z
+0.34
last 3 tested years
Cost / member
$19,088
2024-25
Mill rate
7.92
statewide K-12 6.90
Home value
+6%
5-yr avg vs. 17 nearby districts
Survey responses
543
latest staff + parent
Enrollment

1,514 students in 2024-25, −0.7% over five years while the regional peer median moved −3.6%.

Achievement

Forward Exam results average +0.34 (ELA) and +0.55 (math) on a z scale over the last three tested years, where 0 is the average Wisconsin district. ACT composite: 20.9 against a statewide median of 19.2.

Spending

$19,088 total cost per member in 2024-25, above the regional peer median of $18,254 and above the statewide median of $18,324.

Taxes

The school tax rate is 7.92 mills (2025-26), against a statewide K-12 median of 6.90; the 2025-26 levy is $18.0M, 6% of it referendum-approved debt.

Revenue limit

$15,982 per member under the state revenue limit, against a statewide K-12 median of $13,575; voters have decided 4 operating questions, passing 4, most recently Apr 2022 (non-recurring, passed).

Survey results

543 parents responses in the latest surveys. No survey index falls in the bottom third of surveyed districts.

School Perceptions surveyed Lodi's parents. Each index below averages several survey items on a 1–5 scale. The percentile places the district among every Wisconsin district that took the same survey that school year; 50th is the middle.

Parent survey, 2023-24 n = 543

IndexDistrict (1–5)StatewideRegionalPercentile among surveyed districtsChange vs. prior survey
District governance3.903.613.5067th—
Child experience4.094.003.9461st—
Communication and involvement4.003.963.8859th—

Likelihood to recommend the district (0–10): 8.08 in 2023-24, statewide median 7.53.

Statewide = mean across surveyed Wisconsin districts; regional = surveyed districts in the same region. Change compares the district's index with its previous survey of the same audience.

Lodi enrolled 1,514 students in 2024-25 (September membership). Since 2009-10 its enrollment has fallen 9%; the median regional peer shrank 3% and the median Wisconsin district shrank 12%. The chart indexes each series to its 2009-10 level. Private schools inside the district's boundaries enroll 2.8% of school-age children (2024-25), against 9.7% in the median district.

LodiRegional peers (median)Wisconsin (median district)
1061019691852009-102013-142017-182024-25

Students, 2025-26

Student group2025-262020-21Median WI district
Students with disabilities19.2%13.9%16.6%
English learners2.4%2.3%2.4%
Economically disadvantaged14.7%18.6%36.7%
White91.1%90.7%85.3%
Hispanic4.9%4.2%6.8%
Two or More2.2%2.7%3.9%
Asian1.4%1.5%0.9%
Black0.4%0.4%1.0%
Pacific Isle0.1%0.1%0.1%
Amer Indian—0.4%0.4%

Community (ACS 2024)

MeasureLodiMedian WI district
Median household income$118,187$77,317
Poverty rate3.0%8.3%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or more36.7%25.4%
Households with children25.0%25.9%
Residents 65 and older23.6%20.5%
Median home value$383,400$241,800

Home values against nearby districts

Across the five most recent Census releases (2016–20 to 2020–24), the median owner-occupied home in Lodi averaged $333,740, 6% above the median of the 17 districts within 25 miles ($314,140). That ranks 7th of 18 in the area and at the 89th percentile of Wisconsin districts (state median $205,920).

ACS 5-year releaseLodiNearby medianDifferenceWisconsin median
2016–20$298,400$253,900+18%$172,200
2017–21$305,100$273,500+12%$182,750
2018–22$334,600$324,500+3%$210,250
2019–23$347,200$348,000−0%$227,050
2020–24$383,400$373,800+3%$241,800
Five-release average$333,740$314,140+6%$205,920

U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-year estimates, median value of owner-occupied homes (table B25077), in nominal dollars. Consecutive releases share four of their five survey years, so the average is a smoothed level rather than five independent years. Nearby districts are those whose NCES office address lies within 25 miles of Lodi's: Middleton-Cross Plains Area (16 mi, $457,620); Waunakee Community (11 mi, $428,220); Verona Area (22 mi, $370,260); Monona Grove (20 mi, $358,840); Mount Horeb Area (24 mi, $348,380); McFarland (24 mi, $343,620); Wisconsin Heights (17 mi, $321,400); Madison Metropolitan (18 mi, $318,640); Sun Prairie Area (18 mi, $314,140); De Forest Area (11 mi, $313,060); Sauk Prairie (11 mi, $299,460); Poynette (8 mi, $273,260); Fall River (25 mi, $266,480); Pardeeville Area (19 mi, $237,300); Rio Community (17 mi, $226,860); Baraboo (16 mi, $205,460); Portage Community (17 mi, $197,660).

Enrollment and the funding count

Wisconsin's revenue limit, which caps what a district may raise from general state aid and the property tax combined, is set per member using a three-year rolling average of membership: each September's full-time-equivalent count plus 40% of summer-school FTE. Lodi's revenue-limit membership for 2025-26 is 1,446.

School yearEnrolled studentsRevenue-limit membershipPer enrolled student
2020-211,4641,4641.00
2021-221,4901,4620.98
2022-231,4941,4500.97
2023-241,5151,4560.96
2024-251,5141,4530.96
2025-26—1,446—

DPI revenue limit worksheets (three-year average membership) and DPI September membership. Years without a membership count show a dash.

In spring 2025, 62% of Lodi students met or exceeded Forward standards in ELA and 67% in math, against 54% and 57% in the median Wisconsin district.

On a z scale, which puts every year on the same footing across the 2023-24 rescaling, Lodi averaged +0.34 in ELA and +0.55 in math over the last three tested years, against +0.05 and +0.77 in its first three years on file.

LodiRegional peers (median)Average Wisconsin district (0)

ELA

+0.72+0.36+0.01−0.35−0.702015-162019-202024-25

Math

+1.11+0.53−0.05−0.63−1.212015-162019-202024-25

Wisconsin rescaled the Forward Exam in 2023-24. Z-scores standardize each year's result against every comparable district that year (0 = the average district; +1 = one standard deviation above), so years on either side of a test or cut-score change can be compared. Testing was canceled in spring 2020.

Attendance, ACT, college-going and discipline

MeasureLodiRegional peersWisconsin medianYear
Attendance rate95.3%93.8%94.3%2024-25
Chronic absenteeism5.0%11.7%10.9%2024-25
ACT composite (grade 11)20.919.619.22024-25
Enrolled in college the first fall100.0%100.0%100.0%2024-25
Suspensions and expulsions per 1,00035.629.133.02024-25

DPI WISEdash files. Chronic absenteeism = share of students missing 10% or more of enrolled days.

Lodi's total cost per member was $19,088 in 2024-25, against $18,254 for the median regional peer and $18,324 for the median Wisconsin district. Local property tax paid for 56% of revenue, against 38% statewide.

LodiRegional peers (median)Wisconsin (median district)
$20,028$17,600$15,173$12,745$10,3182006-072010-112014-152018-192024-25

The revenue limit allows $15,982 per member for 2025-26, above the statewide K-12 median of $13,575 and above the regional peer median of $13,961. The limit counts general state aid and the property tax together, so state aid changes move the levy rather than total revenue. Voters have decided 4 operating questions, passing 4, most recently apr 2022 (non-recurring, passed).

LodiRegional peers (median)Wisconsin (median district)
$16,883$14,556$12,228$9,900$7,5722005-062009-102013-142017-182021-222025-26

Total district cost per member and revenue shares: DPI comparative cost data. Revenue limit: DPI revenue limit worksheets; statewide comparison is K-12 districts only.

The district's 2025-26 levy is $18.0M, at a rate of 7.92 mills per $1,000 of equalized value (statewide K-12 median 6.90). 6% of the levy repays referendum-approved debt (Fund 39).

Levy yearTotal levyGeneral fund (Fund 10)Referendum debt (Fund 39)Mill rate
2020-21$14.8M$11.1M$3.3M11.13
2021-22$16.2M$10.3M$5.4M11.11
2022-23$16.7M$13.0M$1.0M9.96
2023-24$17.1M$13.8M$1.2M8.84
2024-25$16.8M$12.7M$1.1M8.08
2025-26$18.0M$14.2M$1.1M7.92
LodiRegional peers (median)Wisconsin (median district)
12.5610.999.437.866.292006-072010-112014-152018-192025-26

The median residential property-tax bill inside the district, all governments, was $4,580 in 2025 (statewide median $2,766). The full bill on the median home comes to 3.9% of median household income, and the school portion on that home ($383,400) is about $3,098.

Property tax on the median home, by taxing authority, payable 2026

A home at Lodi's median value, about $517,000 at the current assessment, owes roughly $6,320 in property tax for taxes payable 2026. The school district's part is $4,090 (57% before credits); the rest goes to the county, the city, village or town, the technical college district and special districts such as sanitary and lake districts, less the state's school levy tax credit. That bill is $590 more than the average regional peer's median home.

Taxing authorityLodiRegional peers (average)
School district$4,090 57%$3,180 50%
Technical college$310 4%$240 4%
County$1,560 22%$1,200 19%
City, village or town$1,070 15%$1,420 22%
Special districts$110 2%$280 4%
State school levy tax credit−$840−$600
Total$6,320$5,730
Median home value$517,000$408,000

Each column is the tax on that district's own median home; peer columns average the districts in the group. The percentage is each authority's share of the bill before credits.

The same $517,000 home at each group's tax rates

Holding the house constant separates tax rates from home values. Taxed at Lodi's rates the home owes $6,320; at the regional peers' rates it would owe $7,230 on average.

Taxing authorityLodiRegional peers (average)
School district$4,090 57%$3,950 50%
Technical college$310 4%$310 4%
County$1,560 22%$1,540 19%
City, village or town$1,070 15%$1,800 23%
Special districts$110 2%$370 5%
State school levy tax credit−$840−$750
Total$6,320$7,230
Tax as a share of home value1.22%1.40%

Wisconsin Department of Revenue, Town, Village and City Taxes, 2025 levies (taxes payable 2026): each taxing body's levy over the full value it is spread on. The school rate is the district's own levy over its equalized value; county, municipal, technical college and special-district rates are averages over the towns, villages and cities the district covers, weighted by its value in each, so a home in any one of them pays somewhat more or less. The school levy tax credit is the state-paid credit DOR spreads by municipality; the lottery and gaming credit and first dollar credit, applied per parcel, are not included. Median home value: Census ACS 2024 5-year median for owner-occupied homes, brought to January 1, 2025 values by the change in the district's TIF-out equalized value since 2022. The parcel-based median bill above runs lower because it covers every residential parcel, including vacant lots, condominiums and smaller homes, and is net of the per-parcel credits.

Levy by fund and equalized value: DPI and Department of Revenue. Typical bill: parcel-level residential bills inside the district boundary; school portion applies the school mill rate to the ACS median home value and is an estimate.

Voters have decided 8 referendum questions since 1997 and approved 7.

ElectionTypePurposeAmountYesResult
Apr 2022OperatingTo exceed the revenue cap for operational purposes.$29.9M55.2%Passed
Nov 2016CapitalConstruction/expansion of high school gym, wrestling room, and weight room$9.0M42.5%Failed
Nov 2016CapitalConstruction of new primary school and improvement of other facilities$22.0M53.9%Passed
Nov 2016OperatingFunding general operations, maintenance, instructional technology, and staff over 5 years$8.5M60.1%Passed
Apr 2014OperatingFunding general operations, technology and curriculum, and facility maintenance and imp...$2.9M52.0%Passed
Nov 2008Operatingmaintaining and improving instructional programs and staff, replacing technology softwa...$2.6M52.1%Passed
Apr 1997Capitalnew pool facility$1.7M55.6%Passed
Apr 1997Capitalnew high sch, remodel hs & el sch$18.5M61.2%Passed

DPI referenda file, 1993 onward.

92% of Lodi's teachers stayed in the district into 2025-26, against 91% for the median regional peer and 91% statewide; 5% left Wisconsin public schools. Average teacher salary was $62,494, against $63,005 for the median peer and $61,273 statewide.

LodiRegional peers (median)Wisconsin (median district)
97%94%90%87%83%2016-172018-192020-212022-232024-25

Staff by role, 2016-17 to 2025-26

RoleHeadcount, firstHeadcount, lastChangePeer median change
Administrators990%−3%
Teachers116113−3%+3%
Aides/Paraprofessionals5348−9%0%
Pupil Services117−36%+11%
Other9485−10%+13%

DPI All Staff files: distinct people by role. Peer median change across the regional peers.

DPI All Staff files, person-level, linked year to year.

Wherever this briefing sets Lodi beside other districts, it uses the group below. A group figure is the middle value across its members (the property-tax tables on the median home use the average instead), each counted equally, so one large member cannot dominate it.

Regional peers 12 districts

The 12 Wisconsin districts of the same type most like Lodi on four measures: distance and CESA (30% of the weight), total cost per member (30%), the Census child poverty rate (25%) and locale, meaning city, suburb, town or rural (15%). Districts under 400 students are not eligible.

DistrictCountyCESALocaleMiles awayEnrollmentCost per member
PoynetteColumbia05Rural9993$19,574
Sauk PrairieSauk05Town132,594$19,008
BarabooSauk05Town162,850$17,820
Portage CommunityColumbia05Town182,113$18,141
Pardeeville AreaColumbia05Rural21866$16,493
ColumbusColumbia05Town241,173$18,214
MarshallDane02Town251,011$17,998
Mount Horeb AreaDane02Town252,260$19,717
Fall RiverColumbia05Town25490$18,338
Wisconsin DellsSauk05Town271,808$18,294
ReedsburgSauk05Town282,676$17,810
OregonDane02Town283,963$19,222

“Wisconsin median” is the middle value across Wisconsin districts; property-tax and revenue-limit comparisons use K-12 districts only, because elementary and union high school districts overlap the same territory.