$7.2 million Colfax school referendum would cost taxpayers $20 per $100,000 of property value

By LeAnn R. Ralph

COLFAX  —  If voters in the Colfax school district approve the $7.2 million referendum question November 8, the referendum will cost taxpayers an additional $20 per $100,000 of property value.

Although the actual cost of paying for the $7.2 million would be an estimated $77 per $100,000 of property value, the mill rate is dropping to $8.10 for the 2016-2017 school year, which would offset the increase for the referendum and ultimately would cost taxpayers $20 more per $100,000 rather than $77 more, said Bill Yingst, district administrator, at the Colfax Board of Education’s October 24 meeting.

The mill rate for the 2015-2016 school year was $8.67 per $1,000 of property value.

The mill rate for the 2016-2017 school year is $8.10 per $1,000 of property value.

If the referendum is approved by voters, the mill rate would be $8.87 per $1,000 of property value — or 20 cents more than taxpayers paid this year, Yingst said.

Even at $8.87, Colfax would still have the lowest mill rate of any school district in this region of Wisconsin, he said.

“I think that’s good news for the taxpayers of the school district,” Yingst said.

Two levies

The Colfax Board of Education approved two tax levies for the 2016-2017 school year — $2.9 million based on approval of the $7.2 million referendum question and $2.6 million based on the referendum not being approved.

The tax levy set by the Board of Education at the October 24 meeting if the referendum question is not approved November 8 is $2,624,182.

The tax levy set by the Board of Education if the referendum question is approved is $250,000 more for debt service at $2,874,162.

The tax levy for the 2015-2016 school year was $2,569,128.

The “without referendum” levy is about $55,000 more than the 2015-2016 tax levy.

The “with referendum” levy is about $300,000 more than the 2015-2016 tax levy.

Equalized value

As reported in a letter from the Wisconsin Department of Revenue dated September 30, the equalized value in the Colfax school district for the 2016-2017 school year is $327,603,003.

The district’s equalized value has been increasing over the last four or five years, Yingst said.

At the lowest point following the Great Recession, equalized value in the district was about $280 million, he noted.

Interest 

The cost estimate of the money required to fund the referendum items is based on an interest rate of 3.75 percent, Yingst said.

The actual interest rate right now is 3 percent, he said.

Using 3.75 percent to estimate the cost of the referendum is overestimating what the cost is likely to be, Yingst said.

The actual cost of the referendum is more likely to be closer to 3 percent, he said.

Although interest rates are expected to increase at some point, the interest rate is not expected to increase right away, Yingst said.

Referendum items

Items that will be part of the $7.2 million referendum question November 8 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 will include $400,000 to pay off the school district’s unfunded pension liabilities.

If voters in the school district approve the referendum question November 8, the Colfax school board would then advertise for bids for architects and construction companies

The Colfax Board of Education sent out a survey to district residents earlier this year to ask about which  projects residents may be willing to support.

Overall, those who responded to the survey said they might be likely to support replacing the temporary classrooms; technical education and Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) expansion; building infrastructure such as roofs, carpeting and heating controls; improving safety and security, including moving the high school office to the east entrance; six new Liquid Propane buses; and a new bus maintenance building.

According to the survey results, respondents said they would not be likely to support air conditioning to dehumidify, control mold, and to better maintain technology such as computers; a new high school auditorium to enhance cultural arts curriculum and activities; and elementary locker rooms, which would be beneficial for visiting sports teams so they do not have to try to find their way through the entire building to use locker rooms.

Other business 

In other business, the Colfax Board of Education:

• Reviewed the annual report for fiscal year 2015-2016. The unassigned fund balance at the beginning of the year was $1.844 million. The unassigned fund balance at the end of the year was $1.930 million.

• Reviewed the special education annual report. Total expenditures for 2016 was $1,160,725.18.

• Learned that 99.53 percent of students in the Colfax school district are compliant with the immunization law.

• Learned that 70 students are open-enrolled out of the Colfax school district and 62 students are open-enrolled into the district. The number of students transferred out of the district is directly related to junior kindergarten and daycare needs, Yingst said.

• Learned that the third Friday in September pupil count was 845 students: 7 preschool special education; 66 four-year-old kindergarten; 57 full-day five-year-old kindergarten; 715 in grades 1 to 12.

• Approved accepting the resignation of Carl Rudi as the middle school boys and girls basketball coach.

• Approved hiring Ryan Krall as the middle school boys basketball coach. Krall is a sixth grade teacher in the district. He also serves as the junior varsity boys basketball coach and as the head boys and girls track and field coach.

• Approved hiring Michael Hodel as the middle school girls basketball coach. Hodel is the elementary physical education teacher.

• Approved four applications for the the spring 2017 session of youth options.