GRANTON AREA SCHOOL DISTRICT’S APRIL 7 BALLOT REFERENDUM upgrading programs with continued dwindling enrollment is not sustainable. We live in a community of no prominent businesses to help cushion this massive increase in revenue. The entire burden of this major property tax increase will fall to the surrounding landowners. The truth is consolidation of our rural school districts in Wisconsin and across the country is happening. Shared programs save money. More options for students become available. We all have memories of what was. We’ve all watched century-old family farms be lost, businesses collapse, and jobs be lost. Reality is hard. Bad budgeting? Too much dependence on “free money” from the government? Many things factor into decline. This is our present, our future. Do we continue to throw money, that many of us simply cannot afford, at an inevitable decline or do we face reality? We are asking GASD voters to please get to the polls on April 7. Many of us have to make a choice: stay and afford our homes and property or be pushed into having to look elsewhere to live. There is also a write-in vote for two new school board members. We are looking for board members with fiscal responsibility who will make decisions based on sound factual, financial information. We are asking for a NO vote on the referendum. Thank you for your attention to this matter. Signed, Julie Reineck, A life-changing decision is being asked of the taxpayers in the GASD, in a referendum added to the April 7 ballot. As do many rural schools across the USA, we face the fact that enrollment continues to dwindle, along with reduction in school state aid. Factor into that we will start the 2026 school year with a budget deficit of $820,000+ (a result of negligent error). Our current mill rate (tax rate expressed as dollars per $1,000 of assessed value) is 4.44. The proposed referendum is asking to increase revenue by $1.25 MILLION per year for 5 years, with a new mill rate of 10.05, an increase of 5.61. Note, the increase is higher than our current rate. Do the math and you can evaluate how drastically your property taxes will be increased. Once your property taxes more than double, after 5 years, then what? Comparisons have been made on surrounding school systems. Facts show that we have more expenditures per student than any of our surrounding schools, with GASD having the lowest achievement options available. GASD had the option of grade sharing with area schools but our school board voted no. We can agree that we want what’s best for the education and future of our children. They are our future. But emotions and the past are not what fuels our schools. We all live in the present. Facts matter, finances matter, affordability matters. The ideological thinking that throwing more money at a 32-year resident of the Granton Area School District 181790 GRANTON AREA SCHOOL DISTRICT’S APRIL 7 BALLOT REFERENDUM upgrading programs with continued dwindling enrollment is not sustainable. We live in a community of no prominent businesses to help cushion this massive increase in revenue. The entire burden of this major property tax increase will fall to the surrounding landowners. The truth is consolidation of our rural school districts in Wisconsin and across the country is happening. Shared programs save money. More options for students become available. We all have memories of what was. We’ve all watched century-old family farms be lost, businesses collapse, and jobs be lost. Reality is hard. Bad budgeting? Too much dependence on “free money” from the government? Many things factor into decline. This is our present, our future. Do we continue to throw money, that many of us simply cannot afford, at an inevitable decline or do we face reality? We are asking GASD voters to please get to the polls on April 7. Many of us have to make a choice: stay and afford our homes and property or be pushed into having to look elsewhere to live. There is also a write-in vote for two new school board members. We are looking for board members with fiscal responsibility who will make decisions based on sound factual, financial information. We are asking for a NO vote on the referendum. Thank you for your attention to this matter. Signed, Julie Reineck, A life-changing decision is being asked of the taxpayers in the GASD, in a referendum added to the April 7 ballot. As do many rural schools across the USA, we face the fact that enrollment continues to dwindle, along with reduction in school state aid. Factor into that we will start the 2026 school year with a budget deficit of $820,000+ (a result of negligent error). Our current mill rate (tax rate expressed as dollars per $1,000 of assessed value) is 4.44. The proposed referendum is asking to increase revenue by $1.25 MILLION per year for 5 years, with a new mill rate of 10.05, an increase of 5.61. Note, the increase is higher than our current rate. Do the math and you can evaluate how drastically your property taxes will be increased. Once your property taxes more than double, after 5 years, then what? Comparisons have been made on surrounding school systems. Facts show that we have more expenditures per student than any of our surrounding schools, with GASD having the lowest achievement options available. GASD had the option of grade sharing with area schools but our school board voted no. We can agree that we want what’s best for the education and future of our children. They are our future. But emotions and the past are not what fuels our schools. We all live in the present. Facts matter, finances matter, affordability matters. The ideological thinking that throwing more money at a 32-year resident of the Granton Area School District 181790
We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it.Ok
