Oconomowoc, Shorewood and North Lake school referendum election results
Along with municipalities and school boards, voters in some suburban Milwaukee area school districts and around the state also voted for referendums.
Statewide, 82 school districts presented referendums to their voters. In the suburban Milwaukee area, three school districts put referendums on the ballot, including the Oconomowoc Area, Shorewood and the pre-K-8 North Lake School Districts.
Here's how things turned out in each of those school districts.
Oconomowoc election results
District voters approved one facilities referendum question while rejecting the other facilities referendum question, according to final unofficial results posted on the Waukesha, Jefferson and Dodge County websites.
Voters approved Question 1, with 8,466 voting yes (55.2%) to 6,868 voting no (44.8%). Question 1 approved $38.65 million for facilities projects at both Oconomowoc High School and Ixonia Elementary School. They will include replacing roof sections at both schools, replacing Oconomowoc High School's heating and cooling systems, removing asbestos from Oconomowoc High School's HVAC systems and duct work. The funds will also build six new classrooms, remove two temporary modular classrooms and replace the gym floor at Ixonia Elementary School.
However, voters rejected the second question, with 8,422 voting no (55.14%) to 6,851 voting yes (44.86%). Question 2 would have funded $36.8 million in other Oconomowoc High School projects. Those projects would have entailed renovating existing spaces into new art and music classrooms, creating new physical education spaces, creating additional locker rooms, an auxiliary gym for gymnastics and dance, a larger fitness and weight training room, a wrestling practice area and an addition of new cafeteria space.
Shorewood election results
Voters in the Shorewood School District approved a $5.5 million per year operational referendum Tuesday, with 4,540 (71.56%) voting yes to 1,804 (28.44%) voting no.
The vote means the district will receive an additional $5.5 million per year for three years, starting in the 2023-24 school year and ending in the 2027-28 school year for a total of $27.5 million.
The district said the funds will allow the district to maintain current student programming and services, as well as to retain and attract staff.
The tax impact of the referendum will be an additional $1.23 per $1,000 of assessed fair market property value. Someone who owns a $300,000 home, for example, will pay $369 more in school taxes annually.
North Lake election results
Voters in the northwestern Waukesha County pre-K-8 district rejected a proposed nonrecurring operational referendum Tuesday, with 708 voting no (54.9%) to 582 yes (45.1%).
The referendum would have given the North Lake School District an additional $1.1 million in the 2023-24 school year, an additional $1.2 million in the 2024-25 school year and an additional $1.3 million for the 2025-26 school year for a total of $3.6 million.
The district said prior to the election on its website that if the referendum failed, it would have to make staffing reductions and would have another referendum in 2024.
The district said the referendum would have helped it maintain its educational programming and sustain annual operating costs, as well as attract new students. It says declining enrollment and state-imposed revenue limits have presented challenges to the district's annual budget.
The tax impact would have been an increase of $1.72 per $1,000 of property value had the referendum been approved, according to the district. That would have meant $344 more annually in school taxes for the homeowner of a $200,000 property, for example.
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Contact Alec Johnson at (262) 875-9469 or alec.johnson@jrn.com. Follow him on Twitter at @AlecJohnson12.
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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: School referendum results in Oconomowoc, Shorewood and North Lake
