By GENE KEMMETER
of The Gazette
Voters in the School District of the Tomorrow River in Amherst approved a referendum, by an 851-554 tally on Tuesday, June 19, to allow the district to exceed the Wisconsin revenue limits by $350,000 for each of the next five years.
The vote stalls further cuts in the district's budget because the state caps the district's tax levy. State aid to the district has fallen because of enrollment declines, plus the aid formula increases at a rate lower than inflation.
The majority of voters in every precinct in the district favored the referendum, with the closest count coming in the town of Lanark, where the "yes" votes won, 114-113.
The village of Amherst Junction had the biggest majority in favor, 67-19, while the vote was 186-90 in the village of Amherst. The other vote totals were village of Nelsonville, 36-33; and towns of Amherst, 268-172; Buena Vista, 25-18; New Hope, 79-49; and Stockton, 76-60.
A similar resolution was rejected in the April 3 election, and Joe Reed, district administrator, said the School Board sent out questionnaires to residents to find out why the referendum failed, learning that voters wanted a sunset clause on the additional funding.
That led to the five-year clause for the additional spending.
In May the board identified the $350,000 to be cut if the referendum failed. The cuts included six-plus full-time positions, a vocal music teacher, a technology education teacher, an instructional assistant, a janitor, a maintenance staff position and 1.3 positions in special education.
Those positions, some of which are part-time, amounted to $286,502. The board also proposed saving another $20,000 by reducing bus routes from 10 to nine.
The remaining funds that would have been cut covered extracurricular activities and involved the elimination of coaches or advisers as well as the programs for baseball, cross country, dance, girls softball, golf, wrestling, middle school cheerleading, pep band, forensics, student council, band performances, plays, prom adviser and choir performances.
With the passage of the referendum, property taxes will increase about 86 cents per $1,000 of equalized valuation in 2001, meaning a property owner with a home valued at $100,000 would pay $86 more per year.
Approval of the referendum also won't affect $303,391 in cost savings the board identified after the April 3 referendum failed. The district had projected a $650,000 budget deficit prior to that referendum.
The board reduced the amount to seek in Tuesday's referendum by instituting athletic participation and parking fees, increasing driver's education fees and eliminating assistant coaching positions, a maintenance job, 5.5 teaching positions and a physical therapist, as well as supplies, travel and equipment.
When voters rejected the referendum to exceed revenue limits on April 3, they also rejected a referendum issue for remodeling and an addition to the Amherst school.
Reed said the school board will be putting together a committee to look at all the safety issues, heating and ventilation associated with the construction project.
"As far as that committee goes, I don't know for sure what they'll deal with," he said. "The feeling is there won't be a lot of new construction, mostly repairing what we have."