Mequon-Thiensville residents will vote on $18.2 million referendum proposal
By Jeff Rumage
Mequon — Residents in the Mequon-Thiensville School District will weigh in on a $18.2 million facilities referendum in the spring election.
The Mequon-Thiensville School Board unanimously voted Monday, Dec. 15, to put the referendum question on the April 7 ballot. The idea of a referendum was first proposed in October, and over the course of the last two months, district officials have solicited resident input through surveys and open house events.
In its survey, the district sought feedback on a $20 million referendum and an $11 million referendum. The $20 million option would have included about $14 million in capital improvements and $5.3 million toward the creation of collaborative learning environments at all district schools. The $11 million option only included capital improvements.
Out of the 540 survey responses, 87 percent of respondents said they believe the district's facility needs must be addressed now. Seventy-two percent of respondents said they would vote yes on a $20 million referendum addressing all of the district's facility needs.
Based on survey results, the school board decided to pursue a third option: an $18.2 million expenditure that would include $14.4 million in capital improvements and $3.8 million for collaborative learning environments at the middle school and high school levels.
Some of the capital improvements include the replacement of roofs, windows and boilers. The 50-year-old Homestead auditorium facilities would be made handicap-accessible. In the fieldhouse, the gym floor and locker room facilities would be improved. The fieldhouse improvements are separate from the athletic facilities fundraiser coordinated by the athletic boosters.
"This is not an extravagant facilities referendum request that we're proposing," Superintendent Demond Means said. "We're addressing basic needs like roofs and windows. We're addressing things that need to be repaired."
Mequon-Thiensville annually invests roughly $700,000 — or about 2 percent of the operational budget — for the general maintenance of district buildings and grounds, but district officials say that maintenance allocation has not kept pace with the scale of repairs needed over time.
Mequon and Thiensville voters have not favored a school facilities referendum since 1998, when the district invested $28 million on a science wing, fine arts rooms, a fieldhouse and other remodeling work at Homestead High School. Voters rejected referendum proposals in 2002 and 2006. Means said maintenance issues have been compiling since district administration identified the need for a maintenance referendum in 2002.
An $18.2 million borrowing would raise taxes on a $400,000 home by $68 in the first year. That same homeowner's taxes would drop $9 for the next two years, amounting to a $60 increase per year from the original tax rate. When the debt from the 1998 referendum is paid off in 2019, the tax rate on referendum debt would dip slightly below this year's levels for the remaining 12 years of the bond life. The tax rate on referendum debt is only one part of a school district's overall tax levy.
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By Samuel R. Enders, Rotary Club of Yonkers-East Yonkers, New York, USA
