Owen-Withee School District's Referendum, Final
Friday, March 28th, 2014 -- 8:27 AM
-The Owen-Withee School District will ask their residents to approve a $300,000 referendum when they cast their votes on April 1st.The Owen-Withee School District has lost $1 million in state aid since the 2010-2011 school year. This past two years, Owen-Withee has been running a $200,000 deficit. In terms of mil rate, this school year the district has a mil rate of $7.63 which is one of the lowest in the county. If the referendum would pass, Owen-Withee residents could expect to see a $.67 increase to $8.30. However, with the passing of Governor Walker?s tax cut package, residents could potentially see a $.87 decrease in their taxes, meaning the mil rate could actually drop to $7.43.
If the referendum isn?t passed, the school district could put it back on the ballot for the Fall elections, however, there is a catch. ?There wouldn?t be any athletics next year,? said Mr. Houts. ?If the referendum fails in April and passes this Fall, we still wouldn?t be able to have any sports teams because we would need to make the cuts right away. The conference isn?t going to wait around for us while we try to pass our referendum.?
Another option the district would need to look into, should the referendum fail, would be consolidation. ?That wouldn?t necessarily be ideal either,? said Mr. Houts. ?If we were to consolidate with a neighboring school like Abby or Thorp, we would take on their mill rate, which could be higher.?
Once again the referendum will be on the April 1st ballot for residents in the Owen-Withee School District.
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