The results of a survey from the Bonduel School District gauging whether voters would be interested in another referendum to upgrade facilities yielded positive results, but officials are going to wait to start planning for more improvements.
The November 2023 survey showed that 67% of 518 respondents would be in favor of a $10 million referendum, with an estimated $1.06 impact to tax rates. There was still a majority in favor on the question asking about $15 million for a referendum, which is estimated to add $1.60 to the tax rate with 53% saying yes. Only 41% said they favored a $20 million referendum with an expected tax impact of $2.14, while 36% favored a $25 million referendum, which could add $2.69 to the tax rate.
Of the 518 respondents, 143 were ages 65 and older. In the older category, 64% favored the $10 million referendum, while only 41% favored a $15 million referendum. After that, supported dipped to below 30%.
With younger and middle-aged adults, 69% favored a $10 million referendum, and 58% said they would vote for a $15 million referendum. Only 46% would go for a $20 million referendum, and 39% would be willing to support a $25 million referendum.
“We were particularly interested in some demographic groups,” Superintendent Joe Dawidziak said. “Ultimately, we feel we could go for a $10 million or $15 million referendum.”
Employee surveys were not included in the final total, but the 38 surveys filled out showed a majority of staff would favor any kind of referendum up to $25 million. The $10 million referendum received 89% favorability among employees, while the $25 million referendum got 65% support.
The school district approved a $12.5 million referendum in 2021, and at that time, the district believed the tax rate would increase by 16 cents per $1,000 of equalized valuation, but instead the tax rate dropped by 89 cents. Taxes themselves increased due to property values going up sharply. With that, the district wondered if it had been too conservative when planning the previous referendum and decided to see where voters stood on doing more.
Despite the support for spending up to $15 million to improve school facilities, district officials are pushing the pause button on pursuing another referendum, according to Dawidziak. He said the district didn’t want voters to experience referendum fatigue, especially with its operational referendum coming back around for another vote in April 2025.
“Historically, we’ve had an operational referendum with technology, which has been around $150,000” per year for a five-year period, Dawidziak said. “We kind of shifted our focus. We really had a discussion at the board level about whether the timing is right, and is this the right thing, and all that. We decided we were going to hold off.”
Dawidziak noted that it’s highly likely the district will look into the matter once the 2025 operational referendum gets approval. He said that the survey showed improvements to Bonduel Elementary School, renovating Sousa Hall, upgrading Bonduel High School’s career and technical education facilities and upgrading the high school’s agriculture facilities were high up on the list.
Dawidziak said he was pleasantly surprised that 64% of senior citizens favored a $10 million capital referendum.
“That’s crazy good,” he said. “I’ve never seen that before.”
As for next year’s operational referendum, Dawidziak anticipates the $150,000 price tag will go up. That amount has been the override request for decades, and the cost of technology, like everything else, has shot up since then, he said. An increase in enrollment is also a factor.
“After that happens, regardless of whether it passes or not, we would pick right back up again with the building referendum to gauge whether we think there’s still a level of support,” Dawidziak said.
lpulaski@newmedia-wi.com
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