Manitowoc Public School District asks for $3.5 million in spring referendum

Manitowoc Herald Times Reporter

MANITOWOC – In the coming spring election, the Manitowoc Public School District will ask residents to consider allowing the board to exceed the state revenue limit by $3.5 million annually for the next three years to support school operations.

A press release sent Thursday said the referendum, if approved, would allow funds to be directed toward maintaining current programs and educational opportunities.

“This would allow us to continue to provide programs, identify infrastructure needs and continue to serve the students,” Superintendent Mark Holzman said.

According to the press release, the referendum would allow for a decrease in school property taxes over the three-year period, with a 2.65 percent increase in the first year, followed by a 2.01 percent decrease and a 1.63 percent decrease in the next two years.

Holzman said the school property tax after three years would be lower than it is today.

The Manitowoc school board voted 6-1 Tuesday to approve placing the referendum question on the April 3 election ballot.

The press release states: “The MPSD takes pride in being fiscally responsible as a low-spending school district for the past 24 years. Manitowoc’s property tax rate of $8.04 per $1,000 of equalized tax value remains the lowest in Manitowoc County and is in the bottom 10 percent of the state of Wisconsin.”

Holzman said he hopes taxpayers will make the decision to continue to fund the school operations. However, if the referendum fails, he said the district would have to consider laying off a portion of the faculty.

“We would have to come back with a plan to reduce millions of dollars from our current budget,” Holzman said. “A large amount of the budget is for employee compensation and benefits. We do not currently have a formal plan that would work through the process of eliminating staff members, but we would have to continue providing services for students.”

He said fewer faculty would lead to fewer programs and larger class sizes in each of the schools in the Manitowoc Public School District.

Holzman said he will soon announce a series of meetings the public can attend to learn more about the needs of the school district and the referendum.