By Heather Ruenz
Staff Writer
The ballots have been counted and local voters supported both questions relative to an Elkhorn Area School District referendum: $22.9 million for further improvements to the district and an additional $300,000 annually.
The $22.9 million, referred to as question one, is expected to have a tax impact of $8 per year per $100,000 of property value while the annual $300,000, or question two, will add an additional $17 per year.
Of the 8,473 votes cast for question one, 5,208 voted in favor of it. For question two, 4,644 out of 8,458 votes cast were in support of it.
Despite the tax impact of the two questions the tax rate in the coming year will drop by 38 cents for the school district’s portion of the tax levy even with the approval of the referendum. Question two – expected to cover the cost of maintaining, operating and staffing the new spaces, will affect the tax rate in the 2018 budget year.
At the forefront of the proposed projects will be the construction of East Market Street. Because the referendum passed, the district has a an agreement to work with the city to move the road closer to Highway 12, and acquiring and paying for 56-acres through the move of the proposed road.
“The district has recognized that we need to have this plot of land and now is the time to do it,” EASD Superintendent Jason Tadlock said prior to Tuesday’s election. “If we don’t do it before Market Street is constructed, then that plot of land will forever be divided.”
The district also has an agreement with the city from 2003 to pay for costs associated with a portion of the East Market Street project.
Tadlock also said Elkhorn Area High School’s James A. Wehner Auditorium needs several updates including replacement of soundboards, new paint, an updated lighting system and auditorium chairs, the latter two which are original from when the auditorium was built in 1967.
At the middle school, referendum dollars will be used to reconfigure the parking lot and traffic flow, tying it into the Market Street expansion and providing for a better and safer experience.
Referendum dollars will also allow the district to upgrade special education spaces at the middle school to provide life skills programming, according to Tadlock.
Other improvements included in the referendum are for athletic-related needs, which did not receive support in a referendum last year.
Athletic Director Dan Kiel said the district included the issues with this referendum because there is a clear and desperate need.
The auxiliary gym will provide space for team such as gymnastics, wrestling and cheer, and allow for batting cages to be moved to the new gym and allow for wrestling to have a dedicated space in the balcony. It will also free up the gym for youth sports and additional practices.
Kiel said the current weight room can only fit about 20 students at a time. A new weight room will allow the district to include more cardio equipment while accommodating more students.
Other athletic improvements include the resurfacing of the track, four multi-use sports fields, the resurfacing and relocation of tennis courts to allow for more parking and pickleball, and replacement of grass on the football field with field turf.
The referendum will also allow for the creation of new ball diamonds for use by softball, according to Kiel, and softball teams would no longer have to travel to Sunset Park on the west end of town for practice and competitive play.
“When you’re thinking equity and access for the kids, it’d be really nice to have them right here,” Kiel said.
