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• Somerset referendum asks for $35 million for new high school

By Dave Newman, RiverTown Staff

It's one of the hardest decisions taxpayers in the Somerset School District have collectively had to face.

Do they vote with their hearts, or with their wallets?

When Somerset voters go to the ballot box next Tuesday, they will be asked to vote on a $35,434,000 school referendum that would pay for a new high school, plus additions and upgrades around the District campus.

The referendum comes at a difficult time for local taxpayers. With skyrocketing costs of gasoline and other staples, an already significant tax burden and a shaky economy, the financial landscape is making this a gut-wrenching decision for taxpayers.

If the referendum would pass, it would result in a three-year tiered tax increase. On a $200,000 home, taxes would increase $158 each of the next three years before leveling off.

The referendum came about because Somerset has been one of the fastest growing districts in the state. The District has averaged 5 percent growth over the past 16 years.

In 1992, the enrollment in the District stood at 861 students. It is nearly twice that now, with an enrollment of 1,598. In those 16 years, the enrollment in the District grew by 737 students.

The referendum asks for a two-story high school that would handle 700 students, but would have the core facilities where it could be expanded for 1,400 students.

The District had three demographic studies done in the past four years. Each of those studies said the District is going to continue to grow. The School Board, in its decision, decided to go with one of the lower projections in the studies, saying that the District enrollment would continue to grow at a 3 percent rate.

At that rate, in 10 years the District enrollment would stand at 2,300.

U.S. Census Bureau information released recently showed that St. Croix County continues to be the fastest growing county in terms of population in the state.

Get the rest of the story on the New Richmond News Web site at www.newrichmond-news.com