The Tomahawk School District is asking voters to approve renewing an operational referendum for $3.25 million per year for the next four years.
It’s the same amount voters approved in 2022 that’s been in place for the last three years. It’s set to expire at the end of this school year.
Tomahawk District Administrator Wendell Quesinberry said this funding is for maintaining current school operations.
In 2021, after a couple of failed referendums, the district cut $1.2 million from its budget. State aid has increased slightly with the last budget. Quesinberry says any help they get with school funding is a step in a positive direction, but it’s barely kept pace with inflation.
“We make this conversation so much about schools and the cost of schools, but really, the reality of it is it's about kids,” he said. “It's about what it takes to, one, put our kids in the best possible position as they move out of school and into the real world, but to also to meet their needs.”
Quesinberry says the funds help pay for basic operating costs that range from teacher salaries and staying up to do on technology to building maintenance and security, something that’s changed significantly in the last couple of decades.
“School safety is extended beyond just protecting your brick and mortar perimeter and making sure that bad guys can't get into your school, but it's also extended now into cyber security, making sure that our kids that are online doing work are not in vulnerable situations,” he said.
Quesinberry says there won’t be any major changes to property taxes for people if the referendum passes as it’s replacing the current referendum. The district is estimating an average levy rate of $5.59 per $1,000 of fair market value.
People may have noticed increases in their taxes on their latest statements because of town reassessments.
It’s one of the reasons the district opted to put the referendum on the February ballot as opposed to last Novembers.
“We knew that people were nervous that their property values were increasing, that their taxes were going to increase at the same rate, and we wanted people to have their tax bills in hand, see where their taxes were, so that they could make the best decision for them,” said Quesinberry.
It’s become more common for districts to go to referendum.
In 2024, school districts statewide asked voters to approve 241 referenda totaling more than $5.9 billion in requested funding.
Voters approved 169 referenda authorizing a record total of $4.4 billion in new funding for school districts.
“These are the biggest challenges that I think we face as we try to make Tomahawk, in particular, the best school that it can be and meet our mission and our vision and our expectations of our community,” said Quesinberry. “We've worked very hard to make sure that $3.25 million will get us by for the next four years.”
This is how the question will appear on the ballot:
Shall the School District of Tomahawk, Lincoln and Oneida Counties, Wisconsin be authorized to exceed the revenue limit specified in Section 121.91, Wisconsin Statutes, by $3,250,000 per year beginning with the 2025-2026 school year and ending with the 2028-2029 school year, for non-recurring purposes, including expenses to maintain current educational programming and ongoing facility maintenance needs?
The referendum question will appear on the February 18th ballot for those that live within the Tomahawk School District.
You can learn more about the referendum on the Tomahawk School District website.
