Colfax school board approves $7.2 million referendum

By LeAnn R. Ralph

COLFAX  —  The Colfax Board of Education has approved going forward with a $7.2 million referendum question that is expected to be on the ballot in the November election.

The school board met in a closed session June 14 to discuss the recommendation from the Colfax Schools Community Steering Committee to approve a referendum and then approved the referendum amount of $7.2 million at the June 20 meeting.

 Although discussion of the steering committee’s recommendation was not an appropriate closed session item under Wisconsin statute, Bill Yingst, district administrator, said there was a concern that a discussion of contractors would be part of the discussion about the steering committee’s recommendation.

Under the state’s open meetings law, governing bodies are allowed to go into closed session under a limited number of circumstances, including judicial or quasi-judicial hearings; personnel issues, such as dismissal, demotion or discipline, that if made public could damage the reputation of the employee; consideration of employment, promotion, compensation and performance evaluations; consideration of financial, medical or  personal information; when devising negotiating strategies, such as for collective bargaining with employees; when discussing litigation that a school district or municipality could be involved in; when discussing the sale or purchase of property and the sale or purchase is competitive in nature.

No matter the reason for the closed session, state law requires the governing body reconvene into open session to make and approve motions unless making the motion would circumvent the reason for going into closed session. In that case, the motion can be made and approved in closed session, but once the reason for going into closed session is past (the personnel issue is resolved; a lawsuit has been filed; the property is bought or sold; or the collective bargaining is concluded), then the motion must become part of the open record.

Yingst informed the Colfax Messenger that following the closed session on June 14, the Board of Education had approved going forward with the referendum.

Referendum items

At the June 8 meeting, the steering committee unanimously recommended that the Board of Education include the following items in a referendum question.

Items that would be part of the $7.2 million referendum question in November include replacing temporary classrooms for $1.4 million; building infrastructure for $2.2 million; a bus maintenance building for $750,000; technical education and Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) expansion for $1.2 million; improving safety and security for $650,000; and district bus replacement for $600,000.

In addition to the construction items and the buses, the referendum question is expected to include $400,000 to pay off the school district’s unfunded pension liabilities.

Estimates for the construction projects are from SDS Architects out of Eau Claire and include architectural and engineering fees, contingency amounts, permits and miscellaneous equipment.

Temporary classrooms

Replacing the temporary classrooms on the east side of the elementary school would involve building a 7,000 square foot addition that will include six classrooms for $1.4 million.

The permanent classrooms are expected to be located on the site of the temporary classrooms.

The temporary classrooms were initially expected to be used no more than ten years but have now been in use for more than 30 years.

The cost of $1.4 million includes demolition of the existing temporary classrooms.

Infrastructure

Building infrastructure for $2.2 million includes energy efficiency items, such as digital controls for the boiler systems, replacement of at least one boiler, air handling equipment replacements and updates, and connecting the entire HVAC system into one digital computerized control unit.

The infrastructure portion of the project also will include replacing certain sections of roof.

Bus maintenance

The bus maintenance building for $750,000 would replace the existing bus maintenance building that is more than 50 years old and is now too small for adequate room to work on today’s buses.

The 80 x 100 foot building would replace the existing structure along with several adjacent shops.

Tech Ed/STEM

Although the initial figure was $600,000 for Technical Education and STEM expansions, steering committee members strongly believed that amount was not enough, Yingst said.

The amount of  $1.2 million approved by the Board of Education includes improvements and expansion of the existing technical education and science, technology, engineering and math areas and would include additional equipment and technology upgrades, such as more computers.

Steering committee members said they believed that a stronger Tech ed/STEM program at Colfax would help prepare students better for the future.

Safety

Improving safety and security for $650,000 would include moving the high school office from the interior of the building to the east-side entrance of the building.

Moving the office to the outside perimeter would allow office staff to visually monitor who is coming and going from the high school.

In addition to moving the high school office, the project would include identification card access and additional security cameras.

Bus replacement

Purchasing six new Liquid Propane buses for $600,000 is not part of the construction portion of the project but would help the school district work its way back toward a consistent bus replacement cycle.

The Colfax school district purchased several LP buses three years ago as part of the energy efficiency project, and district staff have been pleased with the performance of the buses.

Because the cost of LP is low right now, the cost of operating the buses is quite cost-effective.

The buses also are much quieter than a diesel or gasoline engine.

The Colfax school district operates 18 buses, and when the buses are on a regular schedule, they are replaced one each year so that each individual bus must last 18 years before it is replaced again.

Unfunded liability

The total amount for paying off the school district’s unfunded pension liability is $400,000.

The school district has been working on paying off the liability to the Wisconsin Retirement System for the last 27 years, since 1989, Yingst said.

The school district is paying $60,000 per year, and at the current pay rate, the unfunded liability would be paid off in 2029, he said.

If the school district continues to make payments of $60,000 per year for the next 13 years, the total would amount to $780,000 — or nearly twice the amount the Board of Education is asking for on a referendum question.

Paying off the unfunded liability would give the school district an additional $60,000 per year in cash flow, Yingst noted.

The Colfax school district lost $250,000 per year in state aid five years ago due to Act 10, which all but eliminated collective bargaining for most public employees.

Interest rates

Yingst said he had spoken with Brian Brewer, a financial consultant with Robert W. Baird & Company, and current interest rates are between 3 percent and 3.5 percent.

Previous calculations in March were based on an interest rate of 4.5 percent.

Brewer prepared an estimate for referendum financing based on an interest rate of 4 percent.

On $7.5 million, taxpayers would pay an additional $90 per year on property with a fair market value of $100,000; an additional $135 on a $150,000 property; an additional $180 on a $200,000 property; and an additional $270 on a $300,000 property.

On $7 million at 4 percent interest, taxpayers would pay an additional $84 on a property with a fair market value of $100,000; an additional $126 on a $150,000 property; an additional $168 on a $200,000 property an an additional $252 on a $300,000 property.

For each additional $1 million borrowed, taxpayers would pay an additional $12 per $100,000 of property value.

Construction costs increase by about 3 percent per year, so if the construction projects were delayed for one year, the increased cost on $6.2 million in construction projects would be an increase of about $186,000.

If construction was delayed for two years, the cost increase would be about $200,000.

Several school board members wondered if the $7.2 million would be enough to get the projects done.

Until the bids actually come in, no one will know for sure what the construction projects will cost, and the bidding would start only after a referendum is passed, Yingst said.

Based on what is now known, however, $7.2 million should be sufficient to accomplish the projects on the list, he said.

The Colfax Board of Education unanimously approved moving forward with a referendum question for $7.2 million.

The Colfax school district has not had a referendum in 20 years.

Next step

The next step in the process will involve the school board approving a resolution authorizing a referendum.

Yingst said he would consult with the law firm of Quarles and Brady on the resolution.

The deadline for submitting the referendum question to the county clerk’s office is August 26 for the question to be on the ballot for the November 8 election.