Administrator makes referendum pitch to village board

Members of the Rib Lake village board heard from Rib Lake School District Administrator Travis Grubbs at the March 13 village board meeting.

Grubbs gave a 45-minute presentation on the upcoming referendum for the school district stating why the board feels the project is needed and answering questions.

Grubbs traced the project growing out of the school completing its previous 10 year capital plan and noting that the prior school referendum was being paid off. This would give the opportunity for the district to address other major needs in the district with a reduced tax impact as a portion would be replacing the existing debt service payment from the prior referendum.

The total referendum request is $19.5 million with $10.9 million going toward renovations, capital maintenance and site work. New construction of a connection hallway and new gym to be located between the middle and high school buildings will total about $8.6 million.

Grubbs addressed concerns about construction costs being higher than normal, and presented a chart showing that construction costs have increased steadily over the past 100 years and that at no time did costs do anything but increase from one year to another. He said waiting to do the project will simply make it cost more in the future.

As far as interest rates, Grubbs said the interest rates that are being projected by the financial consultants for the project are about the same as the interest rates when the last referendum project was done. He also noted that they are being conservative in their projects about cost and interest rates.

The bottom line number for school district taxpayers is that the referendum will have a tax impact with an increase of $1.46 per $1,000 of equalized value over the 20232024 tax year.

Grubbs noted that this would put the projected tax rate at $7.73 per $1,000 of equalized value, which is still below the $7.78 per $1,000 rate in 2021-2022 and well below the $9.73 per $1,000 rate in 2017-2018.

If approved, Grubbs said they would spend the rest of 2024 working on finalized designs with bidding to take place January to March 2025 with construction to begin spring 2025 and be completed by August 2026.

A resident who was at the meeting asked what happens if the referendum fails on April 2.

“The entire process has been community driven based on feedback,” Grubbs said, he noted they have had listening sessions, a public survey and opportunities for public input throughout the project to this point with the school board taking that feedback and focusing the proposed project based on what the majority of people would support. He said they are doing their best so that people support it on April 2.

However, he noted that with capital maintenance projects in the referendum totaling more than $13 million there is no way to absorb them in the school district budget.

He said this is a long-time issue related to the state’s school funding rules that have been in place since the 1990s. He noted that currently 91 school districts are going to referendum.

In other business, board members:

 Raised no objections to a plan by Rich Noviska to move an existing home from a lot along Hwy 102 to a vacant lot on a nearby street. “As far as I can see, it is a win-win,” said village president Bill Schreiner. The lot is being cleared to allow of the construction of a new office for Lakewood Credit Union. He noted that instead of losing a family home in the village it will be moved to a new place. The move is expected to take place in mid to the end of April.

 Reviewed an update on the community project to build a new bandshell near the Rib Lake Ice Age pavilion. Organizers reported there was $77,000 raised so far and have decided to push back the start date of construction to January 2025 to minimize potential damage to the Ice Age Pavilion parking lot. The goal is to raise all the money for the project before starting construction.

 Approved a picnic license of the Rib Lake Booster Club Trivia Night event on April 6 and also approved a 6 month Class B Beer License for Tannery Creek.

 Approved a resolution to adopt a capital construction plan for the village as a requirement to apply for a community development block grant for upcoming road reconstruction projects.

 Approved a change in the employee policy to grant a day of paid funeral leave if an employee’s grandparent dies.

 Approved creating a maternity/paternity leave of two paid days off for when they or their spouse/significant other is having their baby. All additional time off would be through vacation, sick leave, comp time or unpaid time through the Family Medical Leave Act.