WAUSAU, WI (WSAU) — Wausau voters are facing another school financing referendum question in the April 2022 general election. But unlike the others before it, this one could save the taxpayers money while improvements are being made to schools in the district.
Hilts says this time around district leaders thought it more important to craft something that would pass instead of completing all the projects that they wanted to get done. “This referendum is highly focused on our secondary schools; John Muir and West [High.] They are our largest schools, and they are our oldest secondary schools. They each need a lot of tender loving care.”
Those two buildings combine to take up the lion’s share of the $120 million price tag, while a few elementary schools will see expanded classroom space and others will get secure entrances.
RELATED: Wausau School Board Approves $120 Million Referendum Question
Hilts says one of the most common questions he receives regarding the need for a referendum is why can’t the district budget for some of these improvements and complete them over time, instead of all at once with extra taxpayer dollars and borrowing. He says it comes down to several factors including the school funding formula from the state, which is complicated. But it also has to do with limits on the number of tax dollars the district can take in without voter approval. “We are there. We can’t raise more money without a referendum, which is where we are at,” said Hilts. “That means without a referendum we would have to cut money. In our case, that would mean we end up cutting programs.”
He uses a hypothetical number of $5 million being cut out of the programming budget, which would make many students and residents unhappy. “Those programs benefit kids, they benefit staff, but let’s say we do that. Now, we either spend that $5 million on small projects every year, or we save it for multiple years. Let’s say four or five years- now we have $20 or 25 million, and now we have taxed the community for a savings account. People don’t like that.”
On top of that, Hilts says without a referendum question tied to the funding the community would have no say in how those saved dollars are spent because the school board has control of the checkbook. “The way we are doing it right now, the referendum, is the most transparent way to give the community a say in how we are investing their dollars.”
Hilts adds that based on Wausau’s demographics they will be getting some money from the tertiary aid formula to cover about 20% of the project, but even that formula isn’t designed to pay for an entire project such as upgrades to a building.
Additionally, with the way the district can structure its debt and thanks to the responsible fiscal management of previous boards and administrators, it’s possible that if the referendum passes the mill rate could go down even more in a few years. Hilts says that would open the door to being able to complete more of the work from the original $180 million question without making a significant impact on the tax rate.
“We are basically breaking this big project up into two segments,” Hilts said, while also crediting prior leaders with paying off debt early which saved the district some $6 million in interest. “[That] created this opportunity to do significant investments without raising taxes.”
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