Voters in the Northland Pines School District will see an operational referendum question on the February 18th ballot.
The current referendum expires at the end of this school year.
The new referendum would replace it at $5.6 million a year for next three years.
It is a million dollars more than the last two referendums voters approved.
“We were able to do two referendums at the same amount and really try to hold things tight, including putting new roofs on St. Germain and Land O’Lakes, typically that would be outside of the budget,” said District Administrator Scott Foster. “Unfortunately, with the way economics are going, inflation over the last five years, just like a house, you see increase in costs.”
This is an operational referendum. The funds are used to cover the costs of running the district that aren’t covered by state funds.
A capital referendum to pay for the new high school building ended during the 2023-2024 school year which lowered the mill rate last year.
If approved, the new mill rate would be $3.49 the first year and go down slightly each year. Foster says that comes out to $96 total for the three years for a $300,000 home.
“I think a referendum is about trust. Over three years, we've had to show that we're good stewards of the money. We're providing a really good education, we're following through with what we said we would do with our community use of our buildings. The high school being paid for is also a trust factor. We promised when that came off, people would see that come off their tax bills, and we did that,” said Foster.
Foster said he hopes people will take the time to look over the information and make the decision that best fits them.
This is how the question will appear on the ballot:
Shall the Northland Pines School District be authorized to exceed state revenue limits by $5,600,000 each year for a period of three years on a non-recurring basis for each of the 2025-26, 2026-27, and 2027-28 school years, in order to maintain School District programs and operations?
The Northland Pines School District has resources on its website to learn more about the referendum.
The district is also holding two more informational meetings on the referendum:
Thursday, January 30th at 6:30 p.m. at St. Germain Elementary School.
Tuesday, February 4th at 2:00 p.m. at the Walter E. Olsen Memorial Library.
The Northland Pines School District had its first operational referendum in 2002.
Northland Pines is hardly alone in having to turn to this funding source.
There were a record 241 school referenda on the ballots in 2024.
“I just looked before you called. There's 56 operating referendums just in April on the ballot already in the state,” said Foster. “I mean, this is a cry to our legislators that you are not funding schools at a more close of a level that's satisfactory to their communities.”
District administrators have asked legislators before to reconsider the funding formula that they say doesn’t work for districts in the Northwoods.
Governor Tony Evers was in Rhinelander last week holding a roundtable as he works on the next state budget.
“Would I love at some point in time to change the funding system? Yes. It's so complex, it's hard to even talk about, but what we can do in the meantime is get the money to the school districts in place with a special education or any other categorical aid that will allow them to spend that money for kids,” said Evers.
Tomahawk School District is also going to referendum on the February 18th ballot.
The School District of Rhinelander will have a question on the April ballot.
