Wisconsin election: New London, Manawa, Kiel and West De Pere support school referendums

Voters in four Northeast Wisconsin school districts approved referendums Tuesday, allowing them to raise additional revenue.

"I think that the community could see the needs and see that we were asking for them to support needs rather than wants," said New London School District Administrator Dennis Krueger, whose district secured voter approval to exceed state revenue limits by $1.3 million annually for the next 10 years.

Voters cast 4,072 ballots in favor of the measure and 2,570 against it, according to a late Tuesday night tally.

The district asked for the funding for maintenance and operations of its buildings, new energy efficiency projects, improvements in security and building renovations.

The vote shows that the community supports investing in the school district, Krueger said, thanking the community and pledging to work with those for and against the referendum. 

The additional spending will increase the school district's tax rate by $1.16 per $1,000 of valuation. That means the owner of a $150,000 home will pay $174 in school taxes for each of the next 10 years to cover the cost of the referendum.

The district said regardless of the outcome of the referendum, the total tax rate would go down because of debt retirement from two previous referendums.

RELATED:Voters in Manawa, Kiel, New London, West De Pere face school referendums Nov. 6.

RELATED:With positive community survey results, Neenah Joint School District eyes referendum

Voters in three other school districts also were asked to approve referendums. 

In Manawa, voters supported two referendums that totaled more than $12 million, one for facility updates at its two schools and the other to raze its empty former elementary school. 

Manawa School District Administrator Melanie Oppor told USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin she was "incredibly grateful to the citizens for going out to vote today, and we’re very excited that they’re able to support both of the questions.”

The first referendum question asked voters to approve borrowing $12 million to reconfigure the junior-senior high school building to allow for a specific section for junior high school students, renovate classrooms and other areas like the performing arts stage, and add a fitness center for the students and community, Oppor previously told USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin.

The funding would also go toward updating preschool and kindergarten classrooms and the playground, in addition to other projects.

On the first question, 1,188 voters cast ballots in favor while 859 voted against the measure, according to Oppor. 

The district also asked for $365,000 for the 2019-2020school year to demolish the vacant former elementary school building. It would then be turned into green space.

On the second question, 1,046 voted "yes" while 944 voted "no," Oppor said. 

The additional spending will increase the school district's tax rate by $2.34 per $1,000 of valuation. That means the owner of a $150,000 home will pay $351 in school taxes each year for the next two decades to cover the referendum cost.

The district projected that its overall tax rate would not change with the referendums' passage because the cost of the referendums would be the same as an expiring energy efficiency levy.

"The School District of Manawa has taken great pride in the exceptional education provided to all students and want to ensure that all students and staff can learn and work in safe and efficient learning spaces," Oppor said in an email. "The taxpayers understood the much-needed high-cost maintenance items and capital improvement projects could not be completed without a new source of revenue."

Kiel Area School District voters, which includes residents in portions of Calumet, Manitowoc and Sheboygan counties, also approved two referendums.

In one, the district requested up to $3.1 million for athletic equipment and a new synthetic turf, running track and bleachers. On that question, 2,342 voters were in favor while 2,039 voted against the measure.

The second request was for $7 million for a new performing arts center and scene building shop, which would allow for additional technical education. That passed, 2,402 to 1,967.

The West De Pere School District, which includes voters in parts of Brown and Outagamie counties, asked voters to approve borrowing at most $64.8 million to build a new intermediate school, add on to and renovate the high school, renovate an elementary school and the current middle school, and district-wide alterations, including moving some athletic fields to allow the intermediate school to be built.

Voters cast 6,840 ballots in favor and 3,591 were opposed.

In a second referendum, the district asked voters to approve borrowing up to $9.9 million to build a new indoor multi-purpose athletic facility and improve athletic facilities at the high school.

On the second question, 5,273 voted "yes" while 5,150 voted "no."