Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Elmbrook Referendum Set at $61 Million

So they managed to cut out 43.5% of the original proposal.  Why couldn’t they sharpen their pencils the first time?

It will cost the Elmbrook School District about $61 million to renovate Brookfield East and Central high schools, according to a plan favored by a district committee that was revealed Monday.

The district’s steering committee unveiled the plan to the Elmbrook School Board after seven months of studying different renovation options for the schools in preparation for another referendum attempt in the April election. Last April, Elmbrook’s attempt at a $108 million, two-question referendum to renovate the high schools was soundly rejected by voters.

The game continues.

(9) Comments
Posted by Owen at 1807 hrs
Politics + Politics - Wisconsin

  1. Can someone form Elmbrook talk to someone form West Bend please?  smile

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on December 18, 2007 at 1833 hrs


  2. Umnnnhhh…Owen….

    There is NO referendum proposed on this number.  None.

    That number is from a proposal generated by a committee.  So far, the Board has not acted on their proposal—nor on the OTHER proposal which will be revealed/discussed.

    Posted by dad29 on December 19, 2007 at 0722 hrs


  3. Good point.  It’s a number from an architect.  I just figured that they published it to measure public reaction before deciding on a final referendum number.  Sloppy choice of words on my part.

    Posted by Owen on December 19, 2007 at 0806 hrs


  4. The Las Vegas schools are proposing a $9.5 Billion bond referendum AND does not raise taxes.  It is a continuation of a previous bond from about 10 years ago,
    $100 million- chump change

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on December 19, 2007 at 0814 hrs


  5. Jodi, exactly what would we in West Bend be learning from Elmbrook? They are the same sized school district yet they have a revenue limit of $10,462/student vs our $8,101. They have a mil rate of $9.61 vs West Bend $6.35. That means they have an extra $16 million or so PER YEAR in operating revenue to play with. Certainly they could teach us absolutely nothing about fiscal responsibility.

    Posted by Charlie Hillman on December 19, 2007 at 1602 hrs


  6. Well, Charlie, while not defending Elmbrook heatedly, they managed to get NON-union health insurance here for the teachers.

    On the other hand, when they built their 2 new grade schools ($10MM each,) they included greenhouses.

    You read that right.  I mean, what’s a grade-school education without a greenhouse?

    Posted by dad29 on December 19, 2007 at 1834 hrs


  7. And, Owen, you’re right. It’s a negotiation tactic with the voters.

    If I were a betting man, I’d place a few bucks on “win” for a $60MM bond issue.

    Posted by dad29 on December 19, 2007 at 1835 hrs


  8. We in West Bend are also self insured, which has saved us a ton of money. Do you think greenhouses in our recent referendum would have put us over the top?

    Posted by Charlie Hillman on December 19, 2007 at 1909 hrs


  9. I’m betting it will go down, Dad 29. Just a gut feeling. There are still too many goodies that will be included.

    Posted by Cindy on December 19, 2007 at 2129 hrs


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