While most of the attention during last week’s election was focused on Senate and Congressional races, there were quite a few other ballot issues that directly affect your wallet: school referendums. There were a whopping 81 on various ballots across the state.
Here’s Five Fast Facts on the 2022 Wisconsin School Referendums:
- 🏫 Double Decades - There were a whopping 81 on various ballots across the state. That’s the largest amount in 20 years!
- 🎒 Fast 15 - Let’s start with Dane County and Madison. There were 15 districts with referendums and all of them passed. Most of them involved allocating and spending millions of dollars for various needs. The money will come from property tax increases.
- 🚌 LaCrosse Crashes - We had previously looked at the financial chaos the LaCrosse district was experiencing and it’s only going to get worse. That referendum asking for $194M to consolidate two high schools and move a middle school failed by a two-to-one margin.
- 📚 Appleton Ascends - Appleton’s referendum seeking $129M for a new elementary school (among other things) easily passed. Residents will see a slight increase on their property taxes.
- ✏️ Green Bay Packed - Finally, Brown County and Green Bay approved their referendums, including $92.6M to pay for facility improvements. Like the others, residents will see their property taxes increase.
🔥Bottom line: It’s unsurprising these referendums passed. Few people are going to argue about spending more on our future. What is shocking is the situation in LaCrosse. It’s not quite clear yet what residents were thinking, but improving education clearly was not on their mind.
Did your school have a referendum on the ballot?
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