New Glarus Passes Operating Referendum

New Glarus approves $500,000 for schools
State Journal staff
dhall@madison.com
NEW GLARUS — Voters here Tuesday narrowly accepted a proposal to exceed state-ordered revenue caps by $500,000 annually, an amount the district said is needed to adequately maintain technology and curriculum needs and make necessary repairs.

The unofficial vote tally Tuesday night was 616 to 605.

The $500,000 is a recurring amount, meaning the school may exceed the revenue caps by that amount each year. District taxpayers will pick up the entire cost of the increase in the first year it takes effect.

But after that, the state will pick up about two-thirds of the increase — or more than $300,000 — with local taxpayers picking up one-third.

The referendum was deemed necessary following the rejection of two referendum questions in March, when a $21.7 million building request was handily defeated but an additional proposal to exceed the revenue caps failed by only three votes.

Money raised by passage of Tuesday ‘s ballot question will be spent on technology and curriculum maintenance, new boilers at the high school and grade school and new compressor units at the high school, along with other basic building maintenance, according to a fact sheet produced by the New Glarus School District.

District officials estimated the effect of Tuesday ‘s referendum on property taxes for a home assessed at $200,000 would be $257 the first year and $87 per year thereafter, due to increased state aid.

New Glarus is about 25 miles southwest of Madison, and the Green County district currently enrolls 856 students, about 120 more than were enrolled in 2001, according to Department of Public Instruction records.