District 88 approves vote on operating levy

Election set

Nov. 6; voting

only at the polls

By RACHEL WEDDIG

Journal Staff Writer

NEW ULM -- The District 88 School Board unanimously approved to hold an excess operating levy referendum vote Nov. 6 during a special board meeting Monday.

The board approved an excess levy referendum with a value of $450 per pupil unit for 10 years. If the referendum passes Nov. 6, it will generate a projected $1,250,842 in revenue for the 2002-2003 school year.

The board had cut $1.3 million from its general fund budget for 2001-2002. The general fund covers the district's instruction and operating costs.

For a $100,000 home, it would cost the property owners $134 annually in taxes. For a $80,000 home, it would cost the owners $108 annually in taxes payable in 2002.

The school board has decided District 88 residents will go to the polls to vote instead of using a mail-in ballot as they did in the last referendum vote that failed in the spring of 2000.

Superintendent Harold Remme said a referendum is needed because state foundation formulas did not keep up with inflation in the 1990s. The district's declining enrollment also results in decreased state funding.

The revenues generated from the referendum will be used to decrease class sizes, reinstate supplies and materials that have been cut, soften the impact of the declining enrollment projected during the next years and help to improve technology in the classroom.

Even though it only took a few minutes to approve the resolution, the board examined the issue carefully before making the decision.

"I would just like to assure the public that the board has spent many hours working on the resolution and that a lot of time has been put in to this," said board member Brian Wieland.

Board member Mark Wiger said the board looked at all the possible scenarios for a referendum.

"We weighed the differences between what could receive adequate financial support and what we determined to be necessary to educate students and the community," Wiger said. "This resolution represents a very modest amount."

The boards next step is to prepare referendum information to give out to the public.