001We're live. >> All right. Uh, item nine, we are reconvening to open session. It is currently 6:37 p.m. and all board members are still present. That being the case, uh, item nine, an initial resolution authorizing general obligation bonds in an amount not to exceed $14.5 million. At this point, I'm going to pass it to Mr. Fetchel Carter, before I say anything more, >> so we have um our our friends from Myron and ISG and Baird that are joining us virtually um and and we're going to kind of go through the projects that we'd be looking to I guess we're going to go over a 10,000 foot view of the whole process in terms of where we started, which was a long range facility planning process that officially started back in I believe it was April
0022025. So, not quite a year ago, six, eight months ago. Um, that culminated with staff input on a on a educational ad adequacy survey that went out to staff last last year. Um, a community survey that went out recently that what you guys heard results on in December. Um, and then a proposal to try to find some solutions for the the needs of the district while balancing that with with the needs of our taxpayers, for lack of a better term. So, um, I don't know if the folks in TV land want to introduce themselves real quick. I think you remember everybody, but I'll give them the opportunity to do that. >> Excellent. Well, hello everyone. I'm Kevin Mullen from >> Good evening, Megan with Myron and Kevin with Architects. Thank you. >> So, I'm gonna
003I don't Megan, do you have the PowerPoint, Kevin? I don't know which Kevin's have the PowerPoint, but if you want to share and and bring that up, feel free. [clears throat] So, >> let me share my screen. >> Let's go. All right. Can everyone see the screen? >> Can you expand the PowerPoint? There we go. Perfect. Megan. >> Okay. So, I do have a couple seconds delay, it looks like. >> All right. Thumbs up. We're good to go. >> Good to go. >> All right. So, good evening. We can skip through this first slide because we just went through introduction and thank you Cody for the opening. Uh you explained really how we got to where we are. When I look back at my notes, it was April of 2025 to kick off this process.
004So we've done a lot of work in less than a year. So I want to start by saying thank you for making decisions and allowing this process to move up very efficiently. Um it started with the facilities assessment. We came in in June and shared the status of your buildings. Then we went through some educational adequacy or how the spaces are functioning. Then we went through and explored options. So looking at what does the capital maintenance needs look like? What do some of the educational components? How can you enhance those? And [clears throat] ultimately creating options for a community survey. So, in November of 2025, every resident received a survey in their mailbox. And I'll dive a little deeper into that in the next slide. But all of that led up to where we are
005tonight. And that is to present a recommended referendum scope for consideration for adoption. So again, process of what we've done, a 10,000 foot view of what we've done for the last nine 10 months. So again, thank you for making this process a joy to work on on our end and uh efficient. So the survey results, it was important to us when building the strategy of how do we arrive at a referendum or proposed referendum solution and it was important for us to get engagement. So Kevin and his team at ISG set staff surveys. We um as a team create worked with school perceptions to create that survey that land in everyone's mailbox in early November of 2025. Just a few highlights that I pulled out from Rob's 20 plus slide summary, but the district received
006a 16% response rate. Now, that is a statistically valid um response rate. So I believe there was about a 3% margin of error when I looked at that 60% always seems like a low number but looking at statistical data that is a good number. Um we also provided the community an option to come to a community information meeting while the survey was open to hear from the consultants and get some of their questions answered. And I think that worked out well because if you look at the referendum or the survey results, there's really two questions that were asked. It was like your your generic question when it comes to facilities planning is should the school district explore a referendum and staff you 86% parents who had 68 and your non- parents non staff you had
00758%. So across the board, all subgroups were giving you were signing you a permission slip to explore. Then we went on in that same survey and laid out what the referendum proposed referendum solution would would include. And that's when we laid out a $18.9 million plan. And again, strong support amongst all subgroup subgroups. Um staff 86% parents 73% non-parents non- staff 56%. School perceptions takes a weighted average. So they look at each subgroup and the demographic of the makeup of your district and present a weighted average that if the referendum question were to be asked that day, this is what they would anticipate. And they were saying a 63.3% success rate. beginning with that 3% um um marginal um error, but I wanted to draw attention to this because this was in November and the
008results were shared in December and we haven't get to the financing component of it. We're going to talk about how the tax bills may have impacted this. So, we talk about proposed solution. This is important to keep in the back of your mind. I'm also happy to report that there were a lot of questions at the end uh asking community members just about the the um climate and culture of your school and how you were sharing the information and overall the school district of Maple um scored higher than most of the comparable schools. So you're actually the 86 percentile. That's great data because what that means is that the community trust you. They respect what you're doing and they support what you're doing. And when you have positive feedback on questions when it relates to
009climate culture, that usually translates into support on referendum questions. So all across the board, great news. Then diving into Kevin will take over the proposed solution. All right, jump to the next slide. So there's really when we think about the process and what's uh the proposed solution has come down to it sort of comes into these three pillars. So we gather as Megan talked about the feedback through the community survey. Um, as a district, we asked the question. Um, you've as a as a board, you've taken that information, you've listened, and you're responding to that. Um, with with how we make decisions going forward, prioritizing maintenance, really, this has been a theme from the beginning, but investing, but really focusing on preserving our buildings and what does that look like? um having conversations from you
010know early on in the facility assessments with custodians to building leadership um to you know in that community meetings and comments, questions, feedback things that we learned there as well. Um obviously along with all our various board meetings so very helpful feedback to help us think about what does what what are all the different priorities for different groups um and really what does that mean districtwide? And then the third pillar fin uh fiscal responsibility. So again putting all three of these pillars together fiscal responsibility investment without raising the loan. So obviously Kevin will talk more about that later on. So I think simplified these are really the three things that um we have worked in these three buckets um all along. And so as we jump to the next slide now, what the proposed scope
011would be kind of falls in line with these three categories. >> I think it's important for the board and the community as a whole to to really realize that, you know, we asked a question around $18.9 million in November. Um, and the tax levy came out. The majority of that increase is related to the the the 15% reduction that we saw in state aid which equated to almost $1.2 million. Um Megan alluded to this. You know, if you're going to give a survey, you might want to listen to what people are telling you. And one of the things, one of the themes that came through is, hey, look, I understand that there's needs here. Can you relook at stuff? Can you can you potentially pair down that list? And and that's really the proposals that
012we're going to propose tonight. um at the heart of what we're trying to do is find that middle ground between the needs of the district and and the taxpayers as a whole. So um as Kevin will will kind of walk through and we'll talk through the major projects that we want to try to to accomplish and I'll talk a little bit about some of the the you know the proposed things that come have come off the table at this point in time after listening to our community and trying to reinvest in our buildings, make sure that they last for years to come. continue to serve our community, our students, but also to try to have that be as minimal tax impact as possible. So, um, we've had a lot of work behind the scenes and
013and I can honestly say we have really tried to pair this down and find that middle ground. So, uh, Kevin, go ahead if you want to start with the high school. Yeah, actually can you jump back up here? There we go. I think this is a good example. So you see um this just breaks down of the proposed solution. So $14.5 million of which you know buildings is it going to? Um you're seeing 54% would go towards Northwestern Elementary. Um you see the high school 17%. The middle school 26%. Uh Iron River 2% and then bus garage 1%. So, it just gives you an idea where the dollars are going um of the proposed scope. Jump to the next slide. >> Just a few seconds delay. It will catch up. >> No problem. Okay. So,
014we'll start with Northwestern um the elementary pop. Just a second. >> Okay. All right. Sorry. Go first. Uh we'll start with the high school. So, starting off uh I will go through [laughter] >> I can't keep up with [laughter] sorry first. >> All right. It is on the high school. I will stay on the high school. [laughter] >> Gotta love technology. >> We talked about that earlier. Remember >> spent a lot of the high school. Um I'll go through these because I think it's just good awareness and just know should the board adopt we will spend time building up content behind all of these um precedent for photos of the different spaces conditions and the needs and such. But I will go through them here. If you have questions, feel free or Cody, if there's
015things that you think of, chime in as well. The high school replaceing in the tech areas or shop areas. Replace the air dryer system in the woods shop. Um, repair the building exterior. So, specifically brick work, some cotton chuck. to really maintain the the envelope versus the water infiltration causing damage down the road. Specific pieces within the plumbing and HVAC systems for um that are needed for replacement. So there's some pumps um chiller um and water heater replacements. Um so very specific things that were identified through the facility assessment that are um due based on age and condition. Um and so it's time to look at addressing those some parking lot repairs. So entrance drive and west parking lot repair work resurface remake the track update security systems and cameras. So that's something that we've
016talked about and incorporate into this proposed solution for the high school specifically. >> And I think it's yeah, it's important to know that, you know, the majority of that is it's a combination of inside the building, but mostly outside the building, which makes sense for our high school. It's our newest building. Um, [clears throat] it's it's not brand new. I keep telling people that it's it's going on 20 plus years old. Um, but one of the things we talked about in terms of trying to make cuts is one of the the the rooftop AC unit is reaching the end of life. We're going to cut that out of this particular um project if we do go to it. And then some drainage work around the buildings. We have some low spots and stuff where water
017runs the right direction. That'd be something that we try to address at another time in a different situation. So there are some some projects that we would like to do, but that's that middle ground we're trying to find of, okay, 18.9 is is hard. So how do we lower that number at the high school? If you want to jump to the middle school, Kevin, go ahead. >> Yeah, sounds great. The middle school, the right hand column, you see repair, replace the parking lot, driveway, and sidewalks. So quite a bit of replacement there. Um and that also involves where there's poor soil conditions addressing those specific spots. Um so we don't get um you know sink holes, things like that in the future as well. While we do that work, we also improve the drainage um
018in those instances as well. Um and then inside the building, replace plastic finishes, so flooring, cabinetry, so those spaces refreshed and updated. Um updating fire alarm system. Um that building has not been updated yet. Replace um plumbing and HVAC systems. So again um a big one there is controls um and then also water pumps as well. And then again you'll see this um theme upgrade security systems and cameras. >> Yeah, that's going to be throughout all of our buildings. Um it's it's just around the safety and security of our buildings. The camera systems are are dated. Um, and all of them need extensive work, and that work isn't necessarily cheap. Uh, from from the cut side of things, the stage area of the middle school is is dated. It's it's old. It's it's used in
019many different ways. Um, ultimately, we decided that that's going to get pulled off of the the scope of this work. Um, and then the the playground restoration up at the middle school as well would be pulled off as a as beyond the scope of what we're doing with this this particular um project. So that's another way where we try to lower the ask and find that middle ground. If you want to flip Megan to the next slide for our elementary schools, >> it'll get there. >> Elementary placement. So um what you see is just based on the age there's quite a few things that are just coming due one of them. So that is planned for in the project repair replacement uh the driveway sidewalks where we need to updating classroom finishes so carpet paint
020um cabinetry casework uh replacing floor tile as well upgrading classroom electrical system to better support technology replace the boiler and HBAC controls. So again, you see the controls item coming up, playground updates, and then again, update update security systems and cameras. Anything you'd add to this one? >> No, I think the the roof has been long talked about as a need for NES. Um it's it's the original roof to the building back in 1997. We have continued to do everything we can to to move that along. Um some years repairs are tens of thousands of dollars um as a general average, but uh that is something that needs to be addressed. much like the driveway at the middle school has been heavily talked about. From the from the cut side, you know, we're kind of
021prioritizing sections of parking lots that are in worse shape than others. Um, so some of the we've paired down the the the asphalt and paving aspect of it. I know that's not necessarily exciting educational stuff by any stretch of the imagination, but it is part of our buildings and grounds. Um, we'd like to look at updating the the the technology and classrooms, things like our projectors and that infrastructure is getting very dated over there. Um, that's getting pulled off. Um, still a need, but we're, you know, grants and things of that nature are much more likely in those areas than than roofs and parking lots to be honest with you. So, we're going to try to see if we can find some additional funding streams for those that help our teachers teach day in and
022day out at that level. Um the fire alarm panel alarm system was a big cost because it needed a complete retrograde. We're going to continue to, you know, move that along. It's it's dated, but we believe it can still service us. So, that got cut. Um interior doors and a lot of keying systems there are are breaking uh just due to age, not necessarily neglect, but um I know it doesn't sound like a huge thing, but it's a large cost to to to rekey a building. Um we're going to continue to limp along and and work to replace things that come up. And then um some drainage improvements that are needed particularly on the south side of the building where water sits. We're going to hold off on that project as well as as some
023cuts. We're trying to find that um and reduce our ask. So if you want to jump to Iron River, Kevin, feel free. >> Yeah, sounds good. Uh so Iron River, you'll see um some very specific items addressed here um for maintaining the facility. So replace the shingle section of gym roof. uh replace uh some specific windows that were uh we notice some rotting happening so where those instances are needed and again we would address um security assistant cameras and I'll just do bus garage as well. So some very specific uh maintenance items there some exterior wall repairs needed um and replace controls and the water heater. So if there's anything you'd like to add to those two. Yeah, some of the Iron River cuts, the the HVAC system is dated there. Um, it's still in
024need, but we're going to pull it off as the the scope of this project. Um, building controls is a commonality and a number of our buildings. That's that that's dated, but that helps us turn and turn on and turn off systems helps with efficiency. We're going to pull that off the docket. Um, fire alarm panel again is dated, but still able to serve the building. Um, that's off. Um, we have some restrooms that are not ADA compliant. We do have an ADA compliant restroom in there, not all of them. That's getting pulled off of the scope of this project. And we're really looking to invest in the critical infrastructure of Iron River as we continue to evaluate enrollment trends across the district and figure out where that goes. So, um the investment Iron River is
025smaller than the other buildings, but it's the critical areas to keep that building going in the initial uh initial term here as we continue to evaluate what our enrollment trends are over the next year, next two, three, four years. So, um last one there, which is the most exciting one, is the bus garage. Everybody's worried about the bus garage. We know that. But we we do [laughter] technically have five buildings. So Kevin, you want to hit that up and I'll just talk about what we're cutting out of the bus garage. >> I missed that then. >> Go ahead, Kevin. Sorry. >> Yeah. So, as you see, there are some very specific exterior wall repairs and some specific HBAC improvements such as the controls and water. So very very specific needs um in that facility. >>
026Yeah, we have a waste oil furnace that's kind of reaching the end of its life. Um we're continuing to use that on on smaller levels, but it's not necessarily a priority for us to replace at this point in time. So the it is a mix of outside of school, you know, envelope projects, buildings and grounds projects and some interior uh not necess necessarily changing walls or bricks, but trying to refresh. So these buildings um you know look and and feel a little bit more updated because this is investments that are not necessarily a year or two down the road. It's investments that are 10, 15 plus years down the road. um which is that kind of foresight and thinking that we're trying to trying to encompass in this project is not just looking what does
027year one year two look like it was what is year 10 15 look like as well. So um I don't know what the next slide is I'm going to try to pull it here. Any questions for Kevin in terms of scope of sequence on the projects because otherwise I'm gonna turn over to Kellen Kevin Mullen from Bear to talk the financial side of this equation which obviously is very important too. I just had a couple questions. Can somebody remind me in the past we've talked about the fire alarm systems? I'm trying to remember which of our schools, if any, have the notifications built in. So if there's, you know, a fire in the evening or where nobody's around that that people will be notified. >> It's one. It's this building. >> This is the only
028building. >> Correct. >> Okay. Thus the reason why the middle school and NES have >> there's some panel upgrades where we would definitely like to to adjust that fact. >> That's what I was thinking. Okay. >> Yep. >> Well done. >> So there's, you know, panel upgrades and then actual hardware within the building too is kind of a two-part project there. So we're we're trying to again go back to what we want, what we need maybe are two different things and trying to find what what works. Other [clears throat] questions? Hearing none. I'll do one more time. I'm going to any hearing none. One going once, going twice, [laughter] [clears throat] otherwise. All right, Kevin. Kevin Bullen, I'm going to turn it over to you, it sounds like. >> All right. Well, thank you. And
029so, uh, As we start to look at the financial uh piece of this, I wanted to go back and review a little bit of um both Megan, you can go ahead to that next slide. I wanted to uh review a little bit about um what the levy looks like presently. And so, you know, Megan alluded to this earlier in the presentation. A survey went out and was completed on November 21st. Three weeks later, tax bills went out. And uh I'm sure I don't have to uh remind anyone here in this room that your levy went up uh that the actual tax bill to taxpayers went up this year uh compared to last year and that was really a result primarily of uh as Cody mentioned earlier a loss in state aid. Um, but I wanted
030to give you this context because it's going to be helpful when we talk about what uh the um actual tax impact looks like and how we're structuring a conversation around the tax impact. So these are three components of the school's 202526 tax levy. So the portion that went to the taxpayers. So you have your revenue limit uh which was $8.2 million. Um, so that's the portion of uh the revenue limit that is not supported by state aid. You had a small amount of community service of 59,000. And uh as a point of reference, the pink balloon on the right hand side, you had $3.7 million levy for your last payment on your old borrowing. Borrowing that's going to be retired this year. So if you added those three pieces of the levy together, your total
031tax levy was $12,40,000. And that compares to the tax levy last year, the dollars that you asked for last year, which [clears throat] were basically $10.4 million. So the difference between last year and this year was roughly $1.6 million. Um so you know, clearly um people in the community probably felt that. Uh but I think moving forward we don't need to be at that level once this referendum debt the piece of cake is paid off. Uh so that piece goes away. I think you can uh if you don't mind roll forward. So the total le is $12 million40,000. Uh if you were to convert that into a tax rate, you would take the total value of all the property within the school district uh 1 bill684 million um and divide the 12 billion40 by that
032total value to come up with a tax rate. And the tax rate for the 202526 school year was $7.15. Meaning for every $100,000 of home value um someone have they would expect to pay $715 annually for the school portion of home. So what [clears throat] I'd like to do is use that tax rate first as our comparison both historically and to St. Peters. So if you looked at the $7.15 and compared that to where you've been historically um on the next slide you'll see that that actually is an increase from last year. Um so your your tax rate um had you know dropped precipitously from uh 2016 where you were at $1345 per thousand down to in 20125 you were at $6.77 and then this year as we just talked about it went up from
033677 to that $7.15. So the drop in tax rate was a function of two things uh heading into 2025. One was, you know, you had relatively stable levy, the dollars that you were asking for from the taxpayer, and the value behind each one of those uh levies was increasing as property values increased in the area. So, a little bit of context there. The property values, it's not like you had, you know, lots of new growth. you had some new growth in the community, but much of that was a result of inflationary growth, meaning that the homes that are there are worth more. So, you would have expected the tax rate to go down and then that pop up this year is $7.15 certainly was felt by taxpayers. If you were to look at that tax
034rate, not only on a historical basis, but comparing to some of your peers, other school districts in your geographic area, um I think that's also helpful. So, you are on the bar that's in light blue in the middle at $7.15. And you can see you're generally in the middle of the peers that are listed here. Um, statewide the average was $79. Um, you've got, you know, some of the higher tax rates in the state in your this peer group. Um, Bayfield Southshore are on the left there. You also have two of the lowest uh tax rates in the state uh in this peer group being Drummond and Northwood over on the right hand side. Um so you know you're by comparative standards in the state you're pretty average in terms of tax rate. Uh Megan
035if you don't mind going to the next slide. So when we put together the plan of finance, one thing we really wanted to keep in mind was that, you know, as we start to message this, um, clearly that $3.5 [snorts] million debt service levy is going away. uh if we were talking about 14 and a half to $18.9 million. You may recall from our previous conversation, we felt like we could put that in place without increasing the levy or also we could probably put it in place. I certainly can put it in place and have the levy go down. And so I wanted to show you what that looks like. And so pardon me showing you such a >> and the board the board will get a copy of this just FYI. I know the
036numbers are a little bit tough right now. So, sorry Kevin, just letting them know. >> Go ahead. Sorry. >> I was just letting them know that the board will get a copy of this. So, >> okay. So, I'll kind of cut to the chase here. So, in 2025 26, your total levy for debt, and this includes a small portion that is your energy efficiency loan, your total levy for debt was $3.9 million. As we mentioned, almost almost all of that 3.7 of that goes away as a result of paying off the debt that is uh retired this year. So heading into next year, if we were to put 14.5 million in place and be assumed a conservative interest rate of 4 and a.5% and spread those payments out over 10 years, that new payment stream
037would be estimated to be right around $2,50,000. So that is a reduction of about a,850,000 from where it was last year. So we would expect if you put this 14.5 million in place and you compared what your annual debt payment this this year is compared to what it would be next year, you would have a cost reduction uh comparatively of about a million850. So, you know, clearly when you compare your levy, the levy that taxpayers just received to the levy that they had last year, that increase was a million6. So, if we're talking about a payment that goes down by about a million850, we can confidently say we're doing what we can to bring your tax rate back into line with where it was a year ago. And I think that that might be a
038really important part of the messaging here. So, we could shorten the payments and pay it off over a shorter period of time at a higher value, but I think that this represents [clears throat] kind of a nice balance putting in place for 10 years and allowing the tax rate to reduce a little bit. Um, so Megan, if you don't mind going to the next page, I think it's a little bit easier to follow if you look at it uh in terms of a chart. So this chart that I'm showing you here is actually the dollar less, the actual amount of money that you asked for tax from taxpayers each year going back to 2016. And you can see that that dollar amount had dropped heading into 2023. This is the amount after state aid and
039it started to in increase in 24, 25, and 26. Uh that was a result of two things. Uh well, it's a result of primarily loss of aid. Um and that loss of aid is a result of less money in the state pool. Um so, you know, this year in the bannual budget, there wasn't as much aid put into the pool for all school districts in the state. And as you have become more property wealthy, you've lost a relative to other school districts in the state. So you can see that high water mark in 2026 uh where your levy was right at about $12 million. As we just discussed, that pink portion represents just the payment that was the debt piece. next year, assuming that you uh are successful in passing the 14 a.5 million, that
040debt payment would drop to the blue line, the dark blue line at the top, and would, you know, basically reset to a payment um that is certainly less than last year. And when it's added to the actual operational piece of the budget, we're very hopeful and pretty confident that it would be less than what it was in 2025. And so that's kind of the goal of the financing. Um I'll start stop there and take any questions because I know that's a lot of financial information when you were kind of geared towards getting more fun informations at bay. So we'll let you digest that for a minute. >> I've got a question. Um >> absolutely. >> So now I'm going to speak all hypotheticals here. Um so the equalized aid got reduced by 1.6 million because
041of the state. Um >> 1.2. All right. 1.2 million >> roughly. Yep. >> If um if we choose to go forward with referendum and we choose to go forward with the payment structure that's uh just been discussed. Um, obviously we see a uh the hope is a property tax uh reduction for our citizens and our taxpayers, but what if next year the state goes, you know what, we were really we're really sorry and we're going to fix that um and they give us our $1.2 million back. Um how does that work as far as u this goes? Is this something that we then as a district can levy differently to pay off sooner? So the so the mill rate, as an example, it's currently at 7.15. Again, I'm I'm just going to throw numbers out
042there. After this, it goes um if if referendum goes through, we say we want a 10-year payment, our mill rate goes down to 6.9, as an example, but then the state kicks in a bunch of money and says, "Hey, here it is." And if we left everything as status quo, that mill rate goes down to five bucks. Can we still say we want to keep it at that $6.90 and pay this debt down extremely fast? >> Yeah. So, that's a really great question. Short answer is yes. Um, however, when the bonds are sold, um, typically investors that purchase the bond, uh, would ask for, if it was a 10-year loan, they'd likely have a prepayment, um, beginning in the seventh year. So, you know, you could pre you could um, pay it early. um you
043probably you know knock you can knock up to seven years off of it and save that seven years worth of interest cost um between years one and seven you can put the money into an escrow and have the the uh loan paid off. So in essence it's paid off. Um so short answer is yes. That's exactly what we would encourage you to do in that situation if the goal was to maintain a steady levy and a steady impact to taxpayers. Um, so yes, that's absolutely possible and a really thoughtful broad question. Um, you might ask, well, couldn't we just sell a loan that had that was prepayable at any time? And you could, but you'd pay a much higher interest rate for that. So bond investors are willing to give you a low interest rate
044uh in the current market, but they also want an expectation if they're tying up their money for, you know, up to 10 years that they're, you know, going to get that rate of return for a period of time as well. So it's always a balancing act in terms of how much call flexibility you want when you when the loan is sold. >> Understood. >> Kevin, that was a good segue into the question I wanted to ask you. So your scenario was built on four and a half%. >> Yes. >> Um what's your confidence in that you know interest rate and what if it wasn't four and a half percent but rather you know something six and a half or 7%. I'm not sure what that rate could be. >> Sure. Sure. Um that's a great
045question. So you know we built this with um that four and a half% is has about a 100 basis points cushion in it compared to the current market. So, you know, we would think if you sold that today, that interest rate would be in the mid uh in the mid 3% range. So, we've built in a little bit of cushion in that estimate. >> However, you know, we've had it hasn't happened often, but we've had a few circumstances where interest rates are, you know, significantly higher than what was prepared. You could always extend the payment. It doesn't have to be a 10-year loan. It could be a 12-year loan. Um, if the goal was to keep the payment at a certain level, you'd extend the the life of the loan out a little ways. Um,
046that really would be a board decision at the time that the borrowing occurs, you know. So, that would be a conversation we would have at the time that we were getting ready to market the bonds, which, you know, at that point in time, you have a really good idea as to what the interest rates are. But you know uh outside of you know very brief time coming out of co um we feel like you know one basis point cushion especially for a referendum that's occurring this spring um is something that is you know a good solid cushion we can deliver on that feel good about that you want to talk about the other scenario so if you are buying a lower interest rate. What does that do to the payment? >> Yeah. So, if if
047interest rates were That's a great question. Thanks. If interest rates were to come in lower than the estimate, um you you can either have a lower annual payment or you can accelerate the debt service a little bit more quickly. Instead of, you know, selling a 10-year loan, you could, for example, sell a, you know, nine and a half or nine-year loan >> with the payments, you know, targeted where you expected them to be. So you have that flexibility. >> Other questions or any f follow up real quick on Adam's question on if the state gave us the 1.2 million back. I guess I didn't totally understand because the 1.2 million we lost was off equaliz equalization aid. So if that came back to us, that would lower the burden of our local taxpayers, but our
048total amount we could spend per student wouldn't change. So we wouldn't have that 1.2 million to pay down in debt, would we? >> Yeah. No, I think so. I think what would happen is, you know, let's just play that out. So if you you're right, it wouldn't change the amount that you have available to spend. Your revenue limit stays the same. But if the state added back funds to the pool of state aid, your state aid could come up, which means that the portion that local taxpayers pay um would be less compared to the amount that the state shares in state aid. So your your levy would be going down. You could decide as a board in those years where the levy's going down to levy a little bit more for debt service so that
049you bring the levy back up to what the target was and pay off the debt more quickly. >> Okay. >> So take advantage of if the state increases the aid in the future and they're back to sharing more of your aid uh pool. You could uh levy in fun 39. You could levy more in fun 39. >> Would we need a referendum? Would we need a referendum to do that? No. >> No. No. For the debt piece for because it's referendum already, you can keep that payment stable. So, it gives you a lot of flexibility. This is something that Cody and I talked about last week. And I think that that was a really thoughtful reaction to you know what that might be if if your goal is to you know reduce the interest cost
050and pay it off more quickly and it gives you the flexibility to go both directions >> and your slides earlier on the uh mill rate that's all equalized value mill rates correct >> correct that's correct >> so yeah what what we try to do with this as best as we can predict the future But we don't exactly know what state budgets are going to do. I I this this problem around cut and state is not unique. You've all read articles I've shared. Um it's it's a hot button topic across the state that there are a number of districts that saw large swings in their tax levies because the state aid pools adjusted heavily for some in the wrong direction. And to be honest with you, some it's a small percent. It's about 30% saw an
051increase in state aid. About 70 of us, 70% of us saw a decrease. some of those 70% schools saw a one or two% decrease, a minimal decrease, but essentially because the property values in the school district of Maple have risen quicker when compared across the other districts across the state, we had a large hit. So you are right, Stephen, saying that if the state does come in and put more equalized value money into the pool, there are some things that we can do, but most likely that's going to flow through as tax relief. A good thing, don't, you know, that's not a bad thing. Um, but it doesn't necessarily equate to spendable dollars for us as a district. >> Yeah. So, >> and one other thing that I'll say is we're in the middle of
052the banial budget. So, for 2027, we have a really good idea as to what state aid will likely look like there. We can get a pretty good estimate of what that looks like in that first year of the payment. I would I'm not a you know I don't have a crystal ball but I assume that this will be a hot button topic coming through on the next two-year banium budget which seems like it should be a long ways away but it's not too far around the corner >> not the governor >> no there's there's there's a lot of moving parts there yet. So >> I I have one more question. I don't know who can answer this and maybe nobody. Um so different communities within our district were impacted you know right not everybody went
053up the same um how could that influence um you know I'm thinking of different communities like what pick iron like the bagman whatever how could that influence um a referendum vote based on you know what they were already seeing as being a tax increase. >> Yeah. Question clear? >> That's a really good question. So last year your your school the value of the school district went up by 9.7%. So if you look at all the communities in the school district on average the increase in value is 9.7%. But some communities had more growth than that. So you mentioned the town of Hughes, the town of Iron River, uh town of Ulu. They're really small. Uh rule and popular all went up more than 9.7%. So all things being equal, they shared a little bit more
054in that levy than they did the year before. But then every other school district or every other community aott uh horn maple uh and uh again um all were less than the average [laughter] and so there was less levy shared there. Now that's you know on average probably we had communities on the lake for example on a lake that might or homes that might have bought up more than the average in the community and so you know they might have shared more than their neighbor year over year. Um, so I would say if that's a vacation property, um, the owner of that home is probably not shouldn't it's not their permanent residence. They're not voting in the election for the referend. >> So speaking of that point, the equalized value is what really appropriates the
055levy across the different townships. So >> that's correct. In theory, if if our levy was $10 million 2024 and our levy was $10 million 2025, tax bills in a town could go up disproportionately because the equalized value moves disproportionately between towns. >> And how that equalized value is really Kevin, correct me if I'm wrong, it's determined by based off of >> the department of revenue. I want to make sure I'm clear on that. The school district has no skin in this game or no say in this game. Department of Revenue analyzes sales and if a house sells for $1 million in community A and a house sells for $100,000 in community B, that impacts that equalized value. So even though the levy is the same, this is crazy for people to think about. Your tax
056levy might your tax dollar amount might go up strictly because of the property value sales surrounding you and the community. And that's >> you share in a larger portion of it. >> Yep. And that again I I I hit back to is really hard because the levy for us can be exactly the same but the tax bill the taxpayer pays might be different because of factors that are completely out of our control. And I think we all know the communities that exist around us that have you know wealthy rich or you know property rich excuse me housing as a general rule. They're on our lakes and when those when that house sold 10 years ago for 500,000 is now selling for a million dollars. That's how that adjusts that equalized value and why you see
057what you go back to. >> Some communities had a large increase and some communities had, you know, one, two, 3% increase. Um, and and that's hard to explain to people, but all things being equal, Kevin is correct that everybody should have saw at least some kind of equal percentage, but that's not the case. Um, and and I do have >> That's a great explanation, Cody. just as an editorial. You make a really kind business manager. [laughter] >> I'll uh we'll consider that. >> You know, the checks and checks in the mail on that one. Kevin, thank you very much. I appreciate that. >> Um are there any other financial questions as we try to to get to where we need to get to in this meeting. Last question. Last time for any other ones that
058we want to hit. So, >> thank you for the information. Thank you. >> So, the next next steps is to and I don't know uh Megan or or Kevin, anything you want to add. I know we've got another slide here that I'm looking at just a a proposed referendum question which I think we can take over from here. You guys are more than welcome to to stay online if you wish, but is there anything you want to add from your end? >> I was muted. Sorry. And Kevin Mullen calls this the fun stuff. to just wrap up with a few more key points. Um, so I quickly ran through the draft resolution language. Chloe will explain to you what that is, but um, if the form were to adopt tonight, I just want to lay
059out a few steps that will take place. So, Cody will work with your legal counsel. I know is working very closely with talent and you can coral. She does most of them throughout the state. Um but she will um they'll work on submitting the required DPI forms. Now if voted on that locks in the verbiage that you vote on and the dollar amount the financing component will be discussed after a successful referendum. So, Kevin talked about different interest rates and different amortization schedules that as long as the community is to approve the dollar amount, the funding will be will take care of and the bond sales be taken care of after the referendum. Um, but what we would do then on the back end is we would work as a team to take all of
060the stuff that we talked a lot of technical things today. We talk about details of HBAC systems and financing components and equalized value. That's a lot of stuff that you as board members are educated in, but when it gets to the community, that's something that is new information to community members for the most part. So, what we do on our communications team is take all of the information surrounding the referendum. So the why is the district going to referendum, what is included, when can you vote, and how will this impact taxes? We'll take all of that and package it into what I call layman's term. So it's easy, it's small, it's consistent and digestible information. And then we will work on creating a referendum brand and a referendum messaging strategy. So, I just threw up
061some or here's some examples of work that we've done in the past, but we'll work with Cody and the rest of the team to just build out what are some mediums that you use today as a district that you find successful and what are some things that we find successful with other referendums and build out a strategically timed communications plan to make sure that every resident understands what is on the ballot, why it from a ballot, and how is it going to impact their taxes? So, that's all stuff that we will do behind the scenes, and then we'll come back to the board on your February board meeting and talk through all of those components. So, we'll have this the strategy laid out, how are we using direct mail, how are we using social media,
062how are we using Facebook, that'll be all laid out and presented to you. And then also how have we digested this and how have we created digestible information to share with the public. So there's a lot of information and we spent 10 months going through this process. We don't expect you to know all of that. But what we will do is create some key messages for you to remember and share. So I always call it a repentive elevator pitch. And so leaving the board meeting next February or next month, my hope is that every board member will have their own referendum elevator speech. So when someone sees you at a lines the or out to eat on Saturday night or at the grocery store, you can say, "Hey, have you seen the referendum? Have you
063heard about it? Here's a couple key facts and they have these facts." So we'll talk more about this in February again. But if you are joined back tonight until you see us again in February, remember that the information the district creates or our communication team creates on behalf of the district and what we share has to be 100% factual. We cannot advocate one way or another and as a board member in your capacity as a board member in your board meetings you must advocate as well or sorry cannot advocate one way or another. So as a board member in the role of the board member must be factual. All information the district shares will be factual. You are a taxpayer. So outside of your role as a board member, you can choose to communicate how
064you are. So that's all the stuff that we'll be doing behind the scenes if you adopt and you'll see us again in February with the messaging to vote April 7th. Anything to add Kevin or Kevin? No, that's that's great. >> I will say I will say um I very impressed with the for a lot of insightful questions. So jotting a lot of those down. One thing that we'll do on our end is create what we call an FAQ. So it's not your mainream messaging, but there'll be questions that come up in the community. And so I started jotting some things down and we'll create answers for those and we'll update those on a pretty regular basis. So every board meeting from February to April, you'll receive an updated FAQ just to glance over and if
065someone in the community asks you a question that's not part of the key messaging or you don't have a you don't remember what that answer is, you can go back to that. It might be answered there, but it'll also be posted on the website. So, lots of different levels of information how we're sharing it, but I don't want it to be overwhelming to you as a board member. It's our job to make it easy, digestible, clear, clean, and concise. >> With that, thank you for your time. [clears throat] >> Can I ask a question? I don't want to drag this out. However, can you enlighten me a little bit more on the district must only share factual information it cannot advocate for or against? Um, I can't sell this. >> You want to take that
066one, Megan? >> I mean, if if I give facts but give the reasons for the facts and why they should do this, I can't do that. That's where the fine Yeah, that's where the fine line that's where the fine line is. So, you can't say vote yes as a board member in your board tonight. >> Okay. >> Um, if you are out for fish on a Friday night and you say as a taxpayer, I'm voting yes because of XYZ. That is okay. But you cannot use a district computer, a district email to share any advocacy information. >> Okay, that makes sense. So you can as you can say to them as I am talking to you as Adam Landwear community member, not Adam Landwear board. >> All right. Yeah. No, I understand that. Okay. >>
067But it is also fair to say that, you know, the district was thoughtful in terms of what we're looking at. These are the reasons we feel that these projects are necessary for the school district and why we feel you know it's important to do them now as opposed to you know clearly you have reasons thoughtful uh >> insight >> arguments for for coming to this point. Um it's absolutely fair to explain why the board felt it's a reasonable decision to be going with this package of projects and this cost and to explain that and that's what the you know the actual communication piece will also do but it's not going to take the next step and say you must vote yes or please support us or you know that's not the role of the board
068>> right no I I I understand that I just want to make sure I'm I can do more than just be a monotone voice. You know, [laughter] >> I have one more quick question and sometimes I think of what could go wrong. Tell me again what happens if it doesn't pass April 7th. >> I can I can take that one. So, if it doesn't pass April 7th, we continue to move forward. >> Um the next [laughter] >> Yeah. What kind of problem are these guys have? something you get. >> No, >> so if if we hear no in in April, um the board will have the opportunity to determine that that the next possible question can happen November 2026. >> You can re >> Well, I would >> you can't sharpen your pencil, whatever comes
069back in November. >> That's we'd have to try to do some Yeah. What what did we learn or what can we tweak and adjust or or where are we at? One thing I will tell you is that the needs that we have aren't going, you know, the roof's not magically going to fix itself. I've tried. Um, so that'll be the work from okay, April into, you know, spring into summer as to what the next steps might be from a school district standpoint. So, um, don't have a clear step on that one, but we would have to re-evaluate. I always say the sun will come up the next day. Your needs will still exist and you can take a few weeks, months to digest that, gather community information. Um, and then in 2026, there is the
070opportunity to go in November. Legally, a school district can ask two referendum questions per calendar year. So, with one on the ballot in April, you do have one available in November. But your survey feedback's positive. You have great support outside of even the more important question that was asked of the climate and the culture questions. Overall, the community supports what you're doing and you've listened to their tax to their comments. So, you got support at 18.9 million, but you also heard taxpayers are paying a lot for the same amenity. what you've done this day. >> Thank you everybody in in the the the Microsoft Teams world. We appreciate it. >> Thank you. >> Thanks for letting us connected virtually. >> Thank you. We can probably if you want to close that, Jen, feel free. Thank
071you both. Everybody, >> thank you. Have a good night. me. All right. All right. Yeah. >> So, yeah, we're to the point where we've we've got to determine as a board if we're going to to um put a question on the ballot. That's that's where we're at. And I guess to quickly summarize, just so we know the whole process, we we have we started this back almost a year ago. Um, and you know, we we've identified potentially over 380 projects totaling almost $42 million that will be a need within the next either on our doorstep currently or anywhere from six to 10 years down the road based on the useful life of all the back channel things that make this thing go. Um, we surveyed our community and I think this is important to note
072that we've we're trying to listen to our community in light of the the cut in state aid and and trying to find a middle ground. So, we've reduced that ask. We've paired down um what we're looking to do. Um we're still prioritizing maintenance areas that'll help our buildings service our students for years to come. And we're trying to do that in the most fiscally responsible way that we can. So, that that is a a message that I want to make sure gets out here in in the the YouTube world, but also as we move forward with this. So, um, we're to the point now where the recommendation would be to to put a question in front of our our taxpayers to see where they are at and ultimately give them the ability to answer yes,
073we support you or or no, we don't. So, >> so item 10 is is the initial question. Do we do we pursue this? Right. >> Yeah. So, >> item 11 is the language. >> I think they're >> so they're kind of one and one a. Yeah. There's there's some legal beagle stuff that we have to have. Adam's going to have to read off the script here because there's some requirements from our friends at at Corals and Brady, which is the the legal firm that's writing this question. >> I know you got I know you got to choke out of that one, but that that is their name. >> Um and Allison Buchanan is who I've worked with behind the scenes, who's awesome and excellent. Um she's worked with us for years. She's done our short-term
074borrowing, too, which requires them to be involved as well. Um but I'm going to turn it over to you, Adam, to to read off the script and then the board has to make some decisions on was it number 10 and then number 11. Yeah. So, and just to reiterate what what Cody had said, the first number that came in was just over 40. We had asked in the survey for just short of 19 million. All everybody's tax bill came out. We heard what people had to say. I'm not sure how many phone calls or conversations all of uh you have had. I've had my my share. Um and we went back again. Uh Cody did a great job of identifying additional cuts that we thought we could do still be able to ask and have
075a not have a negative tax impact on on our people came to this dollar amount of not to exceed 14.5 million. So I am going to read this and then we are going to need a motion and a second based off of what I read and then it's a roll call vote. So I think we've had I think we've beat this to death as to kind of what we've had with all of these meetings. So, here we are. So, uh I'm going to read item 10 again. An initial resolution authorizing general obligation bonds in an amount not to exceed 14.5 million. And then be it resolved by the school board of the school district of Maple, Douglas, and Bayfield counties, Wisconsin, that there shall be issued pursuant to chapter 67 of the Wisconsin statutes general
076obligation bonds in an amount not to exceed $14,500,000 for the public purpose of paying the cost of a school facility improvement project consisting of district-wide capital maintenance, building infrastructure systems and site improvements and acquisition of furnishings, fixtures and equipment. That being said, I would entertain a motion and a second. >> I will make a motion to u go to referendum for amount of 14.5 million >> not to exceed $4.5 million. Oh, second it. >> Dan and K. We have a motion in a second. This is going to require a roll call vote. Mr. Propes, you want to start? >> Yes. >> Miss Brunette. >> Mr. Cowie? >> Yes. >> Mr. Glanic? >> Yes. >> Mr. Hirs? >> Yes. >> Miss Johnson? >> Yes. >> And I will vote yes. So, it is a unanimous 7
077to zero. Item 11, resolution providing for a referendum election on the general on the question of the approval of an initial resolution authorizing the issuance of general obligation bonds in an amount not to exceed $14.5 million. So this is the document that has a lot of different of the legal beagle stuff. we have to approve this. Basically saying that we've we've determined that this is the question we're going to ask and this is the question that's actually going to go through. So this is a it seems redundant and repetitive but not a process that I set up. I listen to the to the folks that that tell us how to do this legally correct. >> So So is this the language that would be on the ballot? >> The language that'll be on the ballot
078is the language that Adam just read. Does that make sense? With regards to it identifies the the the broad strokes because we cannot put 72 pages on a ballot, right? >> Yeah. >> It's not within item 11. It's what he read. >> Correct. >> First, >> this one is also going to require a motion, a second, and a roll call. So, >> I would entertain a motion. >> I'll make that motion. to uh well, I'm just going to >> to adopt the >> to adopt it as as stated. >> I'll second. >> We have a motion in a second. Is there any more discussion before we vote? >> All right, we'll start on the other side of the room. >> Miss Johnson? >> Yes. >> Mr. Hersh? >> Yes. >> Mr. Guanick? >> Yes. >>
079Mr. Coleman? >> Coleman. [laughter] >> Mr. Cowie. Yes. >> It's a long night, Mrs. Brunette. >> Yes. >> Mr. Propes. >> Yes. >> And I vote yes. 70. That one passes. >> We got a lot of work to do here going forward, I reckon. So, >> yes. >> All right. With that being said, I would entertain a motion and a second for adjournment. >> I make a motion to adjurnn. >> I'll second. Quick. >> Who's going to take it?