(Beaver Dam) The superintendent of the Beaver Dam Unified School District broke down the tax impact of a referendum question that will appear on the November ballot. The school board recently approved the question which will seek $107-million-dollars.
Roughly $87-million will replace the Beaver Dam Middle School, $13-million-dollars will go towards updating Washington Elementary, and $7-million will be invested to make district-wide facility improvements.
Superintendent Mark DiStefano says if the referendum is successful this fall, it will result in an average increase of $1.20 per one-thousand-dollars of assessed value over the life of the loan.
“I think the dollar-twenty really seems practical…if folks recall back to 2016 this tax impact is actually less than the 2016 [referendum],” says DiStefano. “The other reality is if this were to pass, the mill rate that our district taxes for, will still be below the mill rate if we go back to the 21-22 school year. So, it’s not going to bump us into anything historically high.”
DiStefano notes that while $87-million-dollars towards a new middle school is a large amount, that figure will likely continue to increase over the years.
“As we know the best time to build is probably yesterday…the second best time is to do it now…if we compare what we passed in 2016 which is a $48.9-million-dollar referendum those same dollars now are closer to $90-million,” says DiStefano. “If we are not to pass a referendum this fall, a middle school that costs $87-million-dollars for example, in ten years is going to cost between $135-and-$150-million-dollars.”
The superintendent adds that the time to act is now due to how much work the middle school needs.
Throughout the remainder of summer and into the fall, the district will host informational presentations to provide residents with detailed information about the referendum question. The presentations will be announced on the district website and social media channels.
