MADISON, Wis. – Most Americans would agree that government should be able to account for money it’s already spent before asking taxpayers for more.

But that typically doesn’t happen unless citizens or the media demand accountability from elected officials.

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The Madison, Wisconsin school board is considering asking voters for permission to override its state-imposed revenue limit to raise additional operating revenue, according to a report from Madison.com. A proposal could appear on the November general election ballot, the news report said.

While no exact dollar figures have been openly discussed for a possible tax request, school board member Ed Hughes was quoted as saying that the district should “be aggressive” in the amount it seeks from taxpayers.

Hughes thinks the district should ask for more money than it needs, and count on voters to trust the board to use it wisely.

“I think that we should go to referendum, and that we should be aggressive in light of what (levy) authority we ask for, making it clear we don’t expect to use it all, but that it’s helpful to have that simply in terms of flexibility,” Hughes said, according to Madison.com.

If such a proposal were to pass, it would mark the latest in a steady round of tax increases for Madison property owners in recent years.

A 2015 story published by the Wisconsin State Journal said, “The overall (fiscal 2015-16) budget raises property taxes by $96.31 on an average $245,894 Madison home. Last year’s budget raised taxes by $100.45 on the average district taxpayer, who owned a $237,678 home.

“Since the district’s 2012-13 budget, property taxes on the average home have increased by about $271.”

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If the school board votes to put a new tax request on the ballot in November, there’s no doubt district leaders will come up with lots of reasons to justify it.

But wise voters – and their supposed allies in the local media – would be wise to seek details about district spending over the past few years.

Why?

In 2011, EAGnews.org discovered that the Madison district had a very lax employee credit card policy, with central administrators demanding no accountability.

A district official told us that multiple credit cards were issued to employees in various departments in each of the district’s 55 schools and other buildings. While each building had a site manager who was supposed to keep track of all purchases and receipts, no credit card records were forwarded to any central office in the district.

In short, there was very little effort to track who purchased what with district credit cards.

In 2013 EAGnews.org asked district administrators if anything had changed in their credit card policy, but received no response.

But their lack of response seemed unimportant, after an inspection of the district’s credit card and check expenses for fiscal year 2012.

The district’s hotel tab came to $232,693, which included 67 charges at the 5-star JW Marriott in Indianapolis on a single day for a total of $35,981.

The district’s restaurant bill came to $243,049, of which $152,687 was spent on pizza from various vendors, $12,962 went to Panera Bread and more than $10,000 went to various catering services.

Transportation costs were also eye-catching, with $277,395 spent at Madison Taxi, $50,800 at Green Cab of Madison, $9,446 at Badger Cab and $9,084 at Enterprise Rent-A-Car.

That sort of spending apparently continued unchecked for at least several years.

In the 2014-15 school year, the Madison school district spent $228,143 at hotels around the nation, according to information secured from the district through a public information request. It also dropped $198,610 on restaurants and $118,464 on airline fares and related costs.

The spending occurred despite the fact that the Madison district had recently cut a projected a $14.8 million budget deficit by “capping health insurance costs, cutting 110 positions and increasing property taxes by 4.9 percent — the maximum allowed under state law,” according to the Wisconsin State Journal.

If asked about that spending, district officials would probably argue that a certain percentage of the travel costs were paid for with federal grant money.

But that brings up another question that should occur to taxpayers – why is the federal government giving that kind of money to school districts for travel when their debt is forcing painful budget cuts? Why not allow the schools to use that money for more pressing instructional needs?

Beyond that, how much of the travel costs were covered by the feds and how much by local taxpayers? And since the district has clearly been free-spending when it comes to travel and food, what else does it spend a lot of money on? Has anyone checked lately? Perhaps a concerned group of citizens or reporters from the Madison-based State Journal newspaper?

If nobody has done a close examination of district spending lately, they probably should, so voters can make an informed decision on a possible tax proposal in November, rather than blindly trust that school officials have been spending money wisely.