Hamilton School District Referendum: A Guide for Growth
Image from Planning for District Growth
Grace Strelow
This year, the state of Wisconsin has experienced the highest amount of school referendums, at 166. The last time the state saw a number this high was in 2001 when the state saw 167 school referendums. Why is there such a huge demand for these referendums? It simply comes down to the fact that funding from the state has decreased.
According to an article from the Wisconsin State Journal, “School officials blame stagnant education funding from the State Legislature, which, rather than increasing school funding in the 2021-23 biennial budget, relied on federal COVID-19 relief dollars for schools to fill in most gaps. But most of that federal funding is running out, and many districts are heading toward a financial cliff, needing to find new funding sources or make sharp cuts.” Therefore districts have had to turn to referendums to help with growing communities since the state is giving less money to these districts.
Hamilton is no exception to having to put forward a referendum to supplement ongoing costs and new facilities. A few weeks ago, Hamilton School District families received a survey in the mail. The survey talked about maintaining focus to ensure that students in the district receive an “excellent education.” The survey goes on to talk about the two main problems that the Hamilton School District is currently facing. These two problems consist of not enough space in certain areas of the schools and additional funding needed to keep programs and services up and running.
The first referendum item for consideration on the survey proposed three different options for operations. As the first item listed, the district indicated the importance of this referendum by stating that the district is currently facing challenges, including: state aid hasn’t kept up with increasing costs, the district hasn’t received any additional state funding on a per-student basis in the past two years, and the school districts’ costs have increased but the number of revenue districts can use in their budgets hasn’t increased as this number is controlled by the state government. The options the district has proposed go as follows:
Option 1 would increase yearly taxes by $26 per year per $100,000 of property value. If this option is selected, the district claims they would be able to maintain most of the student services and programs, adding that some of these programs and services would likely need to be adjusted. Also, some maintenance and operational expenses would likely be deferred as well. This option would provide the district with $6 million in additional funds.
Option 2 allows the district to maintain current student programs and services. It would give the district $8 million. These funds would also allow the opportunity to remain up to date on maintenance and technology expenses, while up with increasing costs. If this option is selected, it would increase yearly taxes by $71 per $100,000 of property value.
Option 3, though the most expensive option at $10 million, gives the district a comfortable amount of money to support all of option 2 and increase safety measures. The extra money would go towards fixing up long-term equipment and building maintenance. Option 3 also allows adding more staff to help with increasing enrollment. This project would increase yearly taxes by $116 per $100,000 of property value.
The survey about the referendum continued with many different things the district would like to implement over the next couple of years, including a new elementary school, as Lannon Elementary is almost at full capacity. This school would be located on Silver Spring Road right next to Spencer’s Pass neighborhood and would become the new Lannon Elementary. The current Lannon would become the new Willow Springs school. The current Willow Springs would potentially be sold because it’s “outdated and too small.” If this is passed, it would add “additional classrooms to meet the needs of growing enrollment…” making it “a long-term solution for elementary-level and four-year-old kindergarten space concerns, and energy-efficient building systems and natural lighting.” The total cost of this project is estimated to be $43.9 million dollars. The district states this project is too expensive for their annual budget, so if it’s passed, this would increase citizens' taxes by $72 per year ($6 a month) for every $100,000 of property value.
The next project citizens can vote on is an upgraded cafeteria and kitchen at Hamilton High School. The survey states the following: “The cafeteria and kitchen have not been expanded since their original construction in 1962. The area is too small for current enrollment, and kitchen equipment is outdated.” Two options follow this statement:
Option 1 is renovating the kitchen and replacing and updating the current equipment. This option would also extend the cafeteria into the student parking lot. The cost of this renovation is an estimated $9.8 million, increasing taxes by $16 per year ($1.33 per month) for every $100,000 of property value.
Option 2 for the cafeteria and kitchen consists of expanding them into the current main gym and not into the parking lot. The district mailer reads, “Our current gym also dates to 1962 and is too small. Therefore, a new gym would be built on the south side of the building.” The addition of a gym makes this more expensive than option one. For this project to be implemented, it will cost $21.4 million dollars and an increase in taxes to $35 per year per $100,000 of property value.
Another project would be an upgraded library and cafeteria at Templeton Middle School. The plan is to make more space for these areas that are currently too small for current enrollment. The district states that the current layout of Templeton leads to overcrowding and various scheduling conflicts. This referendum being approved would add “more space for group work and student projects.” It’s estimated that this project would cost $3.6 million dollars. It would also increase taxes by $6 a year per $100,000 of property value.
The next few projects are improvements to the high school’s facilities, like the football, softball, and baseball fields. The project to update the football field would be to change it from real grass to turf. It would “improve field conditions and reduce daily maintenance costs. A stronger, more durable surface increases access for fitness education courses, marching band, and athletic teams.” The price of this renovation would be around $1.6 million, increasing total taxes by $3 per year per $100,000 of property value.
The improvements for softball and baseball include adding lights to allow for games to partake after dark, moving the baseball field west of the soccer field, and turfing the infields, which again would help with maintenance costs and improve access. However, most notably it would result in fewer cancellations of games due to spring weather conditions. This project would be a tax increase of $4 per year per $100,000 of property value and cost $2.4 million in total.
People who have lived in the Hamilton school district should know that taxes have been relatively low over the past few decades. The district has celebrated one of the lowest costs per pupil in Waukesha county (lower than Pewaukee, Menomonee Falls, Kettle Moraine, Oconomowoc, and New Berlin, to name a few). Therefore, the referendum is needed to make up for the past two decades of the lowest tax rates possible, in addition to insufficient funding from the state.
Sources
Wisconsin schools have highest number of referendums in 21 years
Community Report - Hamilton School District
Hamilton District community survey
