Voters turn down building referendums at unusually high rate (UPDATE)

April 7, 2021 10:26 pm Leave a comment

Crews take down the former Badger Middle School in West Bend in 2011. Voters rejected nearly $460 million worth of school building referendums during the spring election on Tuesday. (AP Photo/West Bend Daily News, John Ehlke)

Voters rejected school building referendums at an unusually high rate in elections held throughout the state on Tuesday, including some ballot questions seeking permission for multi-million-dollar construction projects.

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Report: Wisconsin school property taxes increase 3.3%

December 10, 2020 9:29 am Leave a comment

Voters wait in line on Nov. 3 outside a polling place in Kenosha on Election Day. A recent report has found that statewide, property taxes for the state’s 421 school districts are increasing by 3.3% this year, rising to nearly $5.4 billion. (AP Photo/Wong Maye-E, File)

Property taxes levied by schools in Wisconsin will go up 3.3%, a smaller increase than in 2019 but still larger than any other year over the past decade, a report from the Wisconsin Policy Forum released on Thursday showed.

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Report: Voters ignore pandemic, partisanship to pass school referendums

November 17, 2020 2:57 pm Leave a comment

FILE - In this April 7, 2020, file photo voters line up at Riverside High School for Wisconsin's primary election in Milwaukee. Advocates for the disabled and minority voters in Wisconsin filed a sweeping federal lawsuit Monday, May 18, 2020, asking a judge to order that more poll workers be hired, every voter in the state receive an absentee ballot and a host of other changes be made to ensure the August primary and November presidential elections can be held safely amid the coronavirus pandemic.(AP Photo/Morry Gash, File)

Despite a pandemic, an economic downturn and a polarizing presidential election, a report released on Tuesday has found that Wisconsin voters approved school referendums at the second-highest rate in state history since 1993 on Nov. 3.

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Voters OK more than $700M in school-construction work

November 4, 2020 3:21 pm Leave a comment

Voters overwhelmingly approved a series of school referendums during Tuesday's election, giving the go-ahead to more than $700 million in construction projects to districts throughout the state.

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Voters to consider more than $900M in school construction on Nov. 3

October 23, 2020 2:07 pm Leave a comment

Wisconsin voters will consider more than $900 million in school construction work across the state when they head to the polls on Nov. 3.

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Nation’s public schools need major repairs, report finds

June 4, 2020 2:28 pm Leave a comment

An employee of Irwin Seating Co., Grand Rapids, Michigan, secures one of 671 seats to the floor in the auditorium at Menomonee Falls North Middle School, a project VJS Construction Services, Pewaukee, worked on in 2017. Based on a U.S. Government Accountability Office report, many school districts are left on their own to pay for building repairs but often lack the necessary dollars, leaving them stuck with aging buildings that can pose health and safety risks. (File photo by Kevin Harnack)

The majority of U.S. public school districts need to make major building repairs in at least half of their schools, yet many districts are unable to pay for updates or have postponed them to improve security in case of a shooting, according to a federal report.

Tagged with: referendums VJS Construction

Report: School referendum voters in giving moods despite pandemic

April 30, 2020 2:45 pm Comments Off on Report: School referendum voters in giving moods despite pandemic

Despite an election marred by an outbreak of COVD-19, voters overwhelmingly passed school referendums seeking cash for new construction or other needs, according to a report.

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BUILDING BLOCKS: Performing-arts auditorium for the St. Croix Falls School District

April 29, 2020 12:12 pm Leave a comment

The auditorium will provide space for instruction in music and other performing arts, including theater, musicals and concerts. Also part of the project will be a $1.8 million fitness center and $525,000 addition to the district bus garage. The work is expected to begin in spring 2021 and wrap up in fall 2022.

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Racine’s $1 billion school referendum appears to pass by 5 votes

April 14, 2020 3:43 pm Leave a comment

Wisconsin voters approved about $1.7 billion in construction-related school referendums last week despite a spring election muddled by the COVID-19 pandemic.

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$1.6B in referendums up for vote Tuesday (UPDATE)

April 6, 2020 9:48 am Leave a comment

Voters cast their ballots at the Pleasant Valley Town Hall and Fire Station on Tuesday, April 5, 2016, in Eleva, Wis. Wisconsin voters are expected to turn out Tuesday in large numbers for the presidential primary and statewide races. (Marisa Wojcik/The Eau Claire Leader-Telegram via AP)

Despite widespread concerns about Tuesday's election because of the COVID-19 outbreak, Wisconsin school districts are pressing ahead with plans to ask voters for permission for about $1.6 billion worth of construction-related spending in another big election cycle for K-12 building projects

Tagged with: Bray Architects coronavirus Milwaukee Public Schools Miron Construction Neenah Racine referendum referendums schools