PEWAUKEE — It was a rough night for school referendums in southeastern Wisconsin. Every referendum on the ballot in our area failed in Tuesday's primary election.
A majority of voters in Waterford, Wilmont, and Burlington said ‘no’ to raising property taxes to pay for school building improvements.
Pewaukee is one of around 90 school districts across the state asking voters for more money later this spring.
"We have opposing views from one another,” said LuAnne Van Cleunen.
LuAnne and her husband Mark have very different perspectives on Pewaukee’s upcoming school district referendum. Mark doesn’t want to pay more in property taxes.
"It just keeps adding up,” he said. “It’s a little here, a little there, but it gets to be a big number after a while."
LuAnne thinks good schools increase property values.
"I just don't see any downside to it,” she said. “I mean, you have to maintain these schools, obviously."
The Pewaukee School District has a $28.5 million referendum on the April ballot. If it passes, the average homeowner in Pewaukee would pay an extra $106 a year in property taxes.
Superintendent Mike Cady says it would cover necessary maintenance like new roofs and floors at the high school. It would also cover big-ticket items. One of which would be a new trade training room that hasn’t been updated in half a century.
"We hear it all the time from employers in the trades and we totally agree, not everyone needs to go to a four-year college program,” he said.
Superintendent Cady says the reason they’re going back to voters for a second time since 2018 is that the money the district gets from the state isn’t nearly enough to pay for improvement projects without sacrificing expenses that are critical to quality education in the classroom.
"Many, many districts right now are dealing with structural deficits because of the funding that exists in the state right now,” he said. "So if we're going to do these kinds of projects we need the additional funding that's not otherwise available."
Cady is well aware some districts are going back to the drawing board after a few referendums in our area were rejected Tuesday by voters.
"Maybe the communication isn't where it needs to be, maybe it's not the projects they think need to be done,” Cady said.
The trend doesn’t begin and end with Tuesday’s results. Department of Public Instruction data shows just 55 percent of school referendums passed last year. That’s down from 80 percent the year before and 72 percent over the last decade.
“What do you think voters are trying to say about this way of funding schools?” TMJ4 reporter Ben Jordan asked.
"Well, I think a lot of it's going to be contextual to the community and how that community views things and what their needs are,” Cady replied.
Cady doesn’t think voter decisions in other districts spell trouble for Pewaukee’s chances, but fig the split views between the Van Cleunens is any indication, it could be a contentious question at the polls.
"I mean, sure, no one wants their taxes to go up but you have to be smart about it too. And if the money is spent properly investing in the schools and the children, how can that not be a good thing?” LuAnne said.
“But the cost of living has gone up here in the last couple of years and people are struggling and I think that's part of the issue,” Mark added.
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