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CONLEY COMMENTARY (WSAU) – Reality has arrived for the Wausau Board of Education. On Monday night they tabled a school operating referendum that voters would have decided on this fall. If it were put on the ballot, the answer would have been a resounding ‘no’ from the voters.
Landowners who are in the City of Wausau who are also within the Wausau School District are facing a revaluation-fueled tax increase. We’ve already seen the mayor, Doug Diny, propose potential cost savings, and pushback from the big spenders on the city council. That doesn’t bode well for the city part of your tax bill. For many landowners, the school tax is even bigger.
What the school board doesn’t tell you is that an operating referendum comes after they’ve raised taxes through the regular school budget. It’s a tax increase on top of a tax increase. If it’s delayed until April 2025 the results are more likely to be a ‘no’ at the polls. Residents won’t vote to voluntarily raise their own taxes after scrambling to pay their tax bills just a few months earlier.
The Wausau School District is likely to consolidate from 13 to 8 elementary schools. That will certainly mean a smaller faculty for the district as a whole, and fewer administrators and lower overhead expenses. The voters deserve to know what the district’s finances look like after those savings before being asked to fund a tax increase.
Chris Conley
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