Voters in Wauwatosa headed to informational meeting ahead of multi-million-dollar referenda
WAUWATOSA, Wis. (CBS 58) -- In less than one month, voters in Wauwatosa will decide whether or not to pass a multi-million-dollar referenda.
There are two questions residents will be voting on Nov. 5th and at an Oct. 10 informational session, some undecided voters are hoping to get answers.
The first question is a capital referendum that asks for $60 million dollars over 20 years. It would allow the Wauwatosa School District to address maintenance costs at multiple schools and make sure they meet the American with Disabilities Act (ADA) standards. The second question is an optional referendum that would ask voters to raise the district's budget by $16.1 million dollars every year until the 2028-29 school year.
If both referenda pass, property owners will have a tax increase of $10 per $100,000 worth of land. Residents who and say they are voting "no" told CBS 58 it's a large amount of money and they're worried the district will continue to go to referenda in the future.
Melanie Cain, a parent voting "yes" says her daughter requires an individualized education program and the referenda would support that.
“Having schools that are up to the ADA standards and accessible to our children is really important to our family," said Cain. “It's really unfortunate that it comes down to all these referendums. Its widespread across the state and while I wish we could get more funding to the state, I’ve been in contact with representatives – we need help now.”
Earlier this summer, the Wauwatosa School District revealed it had a $4 million budget error. Undecided voters say they're afraid something like that will happen again.
The meeting was scheduled for 6:30 p.m.
"In the Wauwatosa School District that equated to us not addressing deferred maintenance on our buildings. That equated to us not updating curriculum and that equated to us not paying teachers a competitive rate," said Superintendent Means, Wauwatosa School District.
Superintendent Means says if the referenda fail in November, there's a chance the school board could vote to bring them back to voters in the Spring.