SAUKVILLE, Wis. — By a sizable margin, voters in two Ozaukee County communities approved a nearly $60 million referendum to build a new elementary school.
The referendum passed by a 63-37 margin, or 2,164 votes, according to unofficial results posted by Ozaukee County Tuesday night.
The Port Washington-Saukville School District asked voters to approve a $59.4 million capital referendum in order to fund the construction of a new elementary school in Saukville.
Most of the money will go toward building the school. The remaining $13.6 million will go to perform various improvements across other schools in the district.
A steady stream of voters filed through Saukville's American Legion Post 410. Diane Biver is a longtime Saukville resident whose kids and seven grandchildren all attended the school. She voted for the referendum.
“It’s time to move on," Biver said. "It’s gonna be expensive, and that’s not the best to look at, but it is needed.”
The current Saukville Elementary school was built in 1955, according to the district. Tom Volgmann voted against the referendum. He isn't against building a new school, but the cost of the other upgrades is too much.
Watch: Voters approve $60 million referendum to build new Saukville elementary school
"I don't really care for [the referendum] that much," Volgmann said. "I think it's kind of a shame to let buildings go as bad as they do that they have to be replaced."
The referendum will be funded with general obligation bonds. According to the district, the impact to property taxes will be about $78 per year for a $300,000 home. The district says that, even with that increase, the total rate will be lower than it was during the 2022-2023 schoolyear.
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