YES! YES! YES! An Election & Solutions are on the Horizon Dunn County🌅
A Rundown on More Referendums from the State and Local School District on the Spring Election in Dunn County - The Possibility of Selling County Owned Land Could Lead to Solutions for Dunn County
On April 2nd, 2024 will be our Spring Election with the following to be on the ballot: Presidential Preference Vote, Local Candidates which will consists of Dunn County Board of Supervisors based on the district you reside in, Town Board or Village Trustees depending on where you reside, School Board Candidates in Colfax, Boyceville and School District of Menomonie Area and two state referendum questions AND a Boyceville School District $18,000,000.00 General Obligation Bond Referendum. This particular ballot for the Spring Election has a lot more on the ballot than if you resided in the SDMA School District of the one referendum on the Primary Spring Election back on February 20th, 2024. So do not forget to flip the ballot over to complete your selections before casting your ballot in your polling place. Also, if you want to know exactly what will be on your ballot before heading to the polls you can go to myvote.wi.gov and click on “What’s On My Ballot” then plug in your address and click on the search button. A sample ballot will appear of all the Presidential Preferences, County Board Candidates, Menomonie Mayor Candidate, City Council Candidates, Town or Village Candidates, and if in Boyceville School District, a referendum and lastly the two state referendums. There is a lot of decisions to make on the Spring Election ballot. I will try to make it a little easier for you by at least preparing you of what is on the two state referendums and Boyceville School District’s referendum. So let’s do a rundown on the referendums shall we?
So, both state referendums will be in regards to election integrity type questions. Here are the two state referendum questions on the ballot as follows:
The first referendum question is an amendment that would be added to the Wisconsin Constitution Article III prohibiting any level of state government from applying, accepting, expending or using private donations and grants such as from NGO’s (Non-Government Organizations) or corporations such as Facebook/Meta (Remember Zuckerbucks in 2020) along with equipment for conducting our local election administration. So if you are for NO outside interference in the form of funding in connection with any of our elections, primaries and referendums in any level of state government then you are in line of a “Yes” vote. If you are ok with outside interference in our Wisconsin election process then you are in line of a “No” vote. Let your conscience be your guide.
The second referendum question would also amend a new section in Article III of the Wisconsin Constitution to state that no one other than election officials designated by law can perform, administer and conduct any type of election within our state. Once again, No outside interference in the form of individual(s) or individual(s) of an organization(s) can conduct, perform or administer any type of election within our state. If you DO NOT want outside intruders interfering with our local precinct elections, than you are in line of a “Yes” vote.
This second referendum question though I feel may be too vague. Many of our counties in the state use outside 3rd Party vendors to manage our precinct level elections. I am not a fan of 3rd Party vendors being in the midst of our election process in our townships and wards in the city. It should only be designated for the county, city and municipality clerks along with chief inspectors, poll inspectors and observers. I really do not think Command Central which is located in St. Cloud, MN are “Designated Election Officials” within the state of Wisconsin. Mmmm……It truly gets you thinking about this particular situation we are in when it comes to our Dunn County election process. Something to chew on.
So, basically, these two state referendum questions are in favor for the start of cleaning up our Wisconsin election process. It’s a start, but we have a long way to go in order for our state elections to be honest and transparent.
One more referendum to go. For those in the Boyceville School District there will be a $18,000,000.00 General Obligation Bond Referendum to vote on. Here is the wording on this particular referendum as follows:
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Boyceville School District - $18,000,000 General Obligation Bond Referendum
Vote for one
“Shall the Boyceville Community School District, Dunn, St. Croix and Barron Counties, Wisconsin be authorized to issue pursuant to Chapter 67 of the Wisconsin Statutes, general obligation bonds in an amount not to exceed $18,000,000 for the public purpose of paying the cost of a school facility improvement project consisting of: district-wide building systems, infrastructure and capital maintenance improvements; remodeling, safety, security and site improvements at the Elementary and Middle/High Schools; technology updates; improvements to the bus garage; and acquisition of furnishings, fixtures, and equipment, including school buses/vehicles?”
Yes
No
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First off, your probably thinking what is a General Obligation Bond and how it works? According to corporatefinanceinstitute.com, General Obligation Bond is
a type of municipal bond in which the bond repayments (interest and principal) are guaranteed by the total revenue generated by the relevant government entity or agency. In other words, the repayment is guaranteed by both tax revenue and operating revenue generated by various projects. GO bonds are primarily used to subsidize the development of public projects.”
If you are visual learner, here is a picture graph of the concept of General Obligation Bond funding from Corporate Finance Institute:
Lastly, we ask, how does it work? Here is an explanation of how it works from Corporate Finance Institute as follows:
“Imagine a situation when a municipality decides to launch a new project, but it lacks sufficient capital to finance the initiative. In such a case, the municipality can issue general obligation bonds.
Investors who purchase the bonds provide capital to the municipality. In return, the investors are entitled to a portion of the municipality’s revenues generated from the project, as well as tax revenues. The revenue streams allow the municipality to honor both the interest and principal payments of the bonds.
Since the repayment is secured by the municipality’s total revenues, there is a low probability of default. Thus, GO bonds are considered safe investments”.
This is an interesting concept of using both municipality’s revenues and tax revenues, so at least they are not totally going after the taxpayers to fund the school district’s facility improvement project.
According to https://www.boyceville.k12.wi.us/district/referendum.cfm, The answer to the big question for those living in Boyceville School District:
What is the tax impact if the referendum question passes?
The mill rate for existing referendum-approved debt payments is $2.71 for 2023-24 and is anticipated to remain at that rate if the new referendum is successful. This is based on the following planning assumptions:
5.25% average borrowing interest rate for long-term municipal bonds to be repaid over 21 years or less.
34.01% State equalization aid reimbursement (October 15, 2023 Certification).
2023 total Equalized property Valuation of $517,481,603 with annual growth of 1.00%.
These figures though are based on assumptions. So they are assuming the average borrowing interest rate for long-term municipal bonds will be at 5.25%. And these days, we all know of the instability of interest rates. We are also dealing with major inflation where materials for housing and institutions are insanely high. And personally, I feel we are in hyperinflation mode. Have you seen how much your groceries went up, prices for new or even used pick up trucks are beyond insane. And the Boyceville School District want to “modernize transportation with new buses.” With extreme inflation, I cannot see how they will maintain the school facility improvement project at $18,000,000.00. Even our current wage levels cannot keep up with the constant increase of inflation.
So here is an explanation as to why the Boyceville Community School District want to pursue the referendum now according to the Boyceville School District website as follows:
“The District Administration and Board have taken opportunities to refinance and pre-pay debt over the life of the 2008 facility referendum. These actions have reduced annual debt payments for the District beginning in 2024. The District’s forward planning has created an opportunity where they are able to complete maintenance and security upgrades without increasing the portion of the school mill rate for referendum-approved debt payments over the 2023-24 rate.”
Interestingly, I found on Ballotpedia.com in regards to the Boyceville Community Maintenance Referendum measure that was held on April 1st, 2008 ballot in the School District of Boyceville, which is in Barron, Dunn and St. Croix counties. “This measure sought to create a bond in the amount of $5,825,000 in order to pay the cost of maintenance and repairs to the school buildings in the district.” This measure was approved with a yes vote of 494 and a no vote of 331. This amount is far less amount than the $18,000.000 million being requested for capital maintenance improvements as part of the upcoming referendum. Yet after 16 years it was decided to refinance and pre-pay debt of the $5,825,000 issued in 2008. And after reading the planning assumptions of repayment of the $18,000.000 million in a span of 21 years or less seems to be unrealistic. Especially after the bond of $5,825.00 issued in 2008 is just 5 years shy of 21 year timeframe. The residents of Boyceville School District have a lot to think about before going to the polls on April 2nd, 2024.
I am so glad I went to observe the Executive Committee meeting on March 13th in the Government Center in Room 54. Why you ask? Well, they had a discussion about the pros and cons of the sale of county owned properties which I thought was quite interesting and thought provoking. According to the Staff Report on the “Sale of County Owned Land” for March 2024 which was submitted by Dunn County Manager, Kristin Korpela stated that apparently, it was brought up earlier this year by a county board supervisor “about the idea of selling the island(s) in the Chippewa River which is currently owned by Dunn County.” Wow! I had no idea the county owned the island(s) in the Chippewa River. And “the thought was that proceeds from the land sale could offset some of the costs and need for borrowing associated with construction of Highway Department storage” Now that county board supervisor definitely had a great innovative idea! Even another cool development occurred around the same time in which “West CAP approached the county about the idea of gifting one to two acres of public land for a grant funded housing project.” Then I really started to get excited! You know why? Because I was thinking those one or two acres could go toward building a much needed emergency shelter for those who are in conditions of homelessness or at risk of homelessness. And emergency shelter is considered a housing project. Ok, at least to me it is. The current Carin House next to Stepping Stones in Menomonie which has 20 units of a bedroom with bathroom was filled the same day it opened up in November last year leaving a lengthy waiting list. This is currently the only emergency shelter available in the county which is quite disheartening. Then “there also has been discussion over the past several years about whether to sell or lease the solid waste and recycling transfer station and recent expressed interest by a potential buyer who does not require financing for such a purchase.” Now that sounds even more intriguing. So all of the above triggered a “request from Planning, Resources & Development and the Facilities Committees to have the Executive Committee provide direction regarding the idea of the sale of county owned property.” Thanks to “Christian Farina, Assistant Corporation Counsel who researched the methods by which sale of pubic property can occur. Christian gave his take of “Wis. Statues s.59.52(6) which gives the county board broad powers to inquire, use and sell real property.” Christian also found out according to “the requirements of Wis. Statues s.75.35 (public notice and auction) are only applicable when the land in question has been acquired through enforcement of the collection of delinquent taxes.” Christian went into depth with the pros and cons of a municipality selling public property off-market along with the pros and cons of a county keeping land versus selling it.
The one segment that drew my attention was the “Pros of Selling Land” which includes "Revenue Generation: Selling land provides immediate revenue, which can be used for public services, infrastructure, or reducing debt.” “Opportunity Cost: By not selling, the county misses out on potential revenue or economic development that could arise from private ownership or development.” and “Reduced Liability: Selling off surplus land reduces the county’s liability and maintenance responsibilities.” Oh, the possibilities, right!?! I just want to give a shout out to Kristin Korpela for the Staff Report she submitted for March. She did an incredible job and had a wealth of information that actually caught my attention.
Do you know that the public can come and observe in any of the 9 standing committees along with the county board meeting to find out what is going on within your county, your community? And you can check out what is on the agenda along with packets pertaining to what will be discussed in each of the standing committees and county board meetings. Just go into https://dunncountywi.gov/ then go to Government then Public Meetings then Public Meeting Calendar to find which standing committee peaks your interest or an upcoming county board meeting. Click on it and you will see the agenda and packet available for your review.
Since going to observe county board meetings and some of the standing committees over the last year and a half I have learned so much about all of the county services offered by the county and the decision making processes involved from the standing committees and county board. There is definitely research involved in making sound decisions in the best interest of the county and it’s residents. It takes commitment and hard work along with collaboration with fellow committee members and county board members to meet the goals of fiscal responsibility, the needs of the community with providing quality county services, and to continue to strive with competitive wages and benefits to those county employees that provide those quality services within Dunn County. I am willing to do what it takes to be that servant leader for my community and for the county in which we call Dunn.
From One Dunn County Neighbor to Another - Have a Wonderful Easter My Friends!
Laurie J. Christianson
