Wausau School District. MWC file photo.
WAUSAU, WI (WSAU) — Voters in the Wausau School District may take up another referendum for building improvements and upgrades district-wide.
On Monday district leaders voted to instruct staff to put together a proposal for a potential question to put before voters next April. The proposal comes after a handful of public input sessions and even more written feedback from the community, which has already turned aside two maintenance referendum questions in the last two elections.
Leaders from each building in the district spent a few minutes highlighting improvements that would be included in the current proposal such as the addition of air conditioning or a new gymnasium. The improvements also focus on security and some differed maintenance.
The proposal amounts to about $181 million in borrowing that would increase taxes on a $100,000 home by about $12 annually or a dollar a month. The question would be voted on as part of the April non-partisan election.
District Finance and Business Services Officer Bob Tess says even though the last few maintenance questions have been voted down, the district’s building needs aren’t going away, and the list has gotten too long to budget for.
“We do a phenomenal job of keeping up our buildings with what you see every year, about a million dollars [for] capital improvements,” Tell told the board on Monday. “But, eventually we get to a point where we need to catch up. We need to get ahead.”
Tess says the need for capital improvement referendum questions comes from the state’s school funding formula, which isn’t set up to allow districts to budget for big-ticket projects. “Legislation clearly suggests that the local taxpayers should decide the level of financial support for their school district,” said Tess. “The legislature’s answer to that is with a capital improvement referendum.”
Further discussion on drawing up the specific bond documents will occur next week. District Leaders have until mid-January to finalize the language if the measure is to go on the ballot for the non-partisan election on April 5th, 2022.
Should the matter pass, the projects would be completed over four years through 2026. Not all of the work would be completed at the same time, some schools in line for smaller upgrades may not see their projects started until 2025.
Specific projects that would be part of that package can be viewed as part of Monday’s agenda packet by clicking here.
Previous referendum questions were voted down during the 2020 Presidential election and last April’s non-partisan election. Voters did pass a $4 million operating referendum used to hire social workers, psychologists, and counselors.
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