ELLSWORTH — After reviewing community survey results that showed the majority of survey respondents being opposed to $4 million, $3.5 million and $3 million operating referendums during the December Board of Education meeting, the Ellsworth School Board opted to approve a $2.185 million non-recurring operating referendum question lasting four years for the April 7 election by 4-2 vote (Steven Mark and Kurt Buckner opposed, Charlie Kummer excused absence).

Ellsworth received 1,180 survey responses, a 20.3% response rate that comes with a +/-2.91% margin of error. The benchmark was set at 500 responses.

Weighted support from the survey, an adjusted measure for parent, community member and staff submissions to more accurately represent expected voter turnout from each demographic, for the $4 million per year referendum was 20.3%, $3.5 million was 27.3%, $3 million was 31.8% and less than $3 million was 42.75%.

“The results from the survey have indicated that we need to go back to the drawing board and dig deeper for potential solutions. The community answered the call, and we are listening and doing just that. As always, there are factors outside of our control, such as the new Pierce County Judicial Center, reassessments, and property value increases, that impact the local levy as well,” Superintendent Brian Nadeau wrote in a column to the Journal.

Upon reviewing the survey results, Nadeau and Finance Specialist Traci Lewis were tasked with finding room to deflate the school’s future expenses and make a smaller referendum possible to propose.

“There are areas that we’ve been looking at internally for reductions along the way. Some of that comes naturally with declining enrollment, and some of it comes from our forecasted budget situation,” Nadeau said. “That becomes very challenging because, by and large, school districts, there’s not a lot of fat to trim just to put it bluntly.”

The number the board was left to determine is where the support threshold passes 50% if at all. A $1.3 million referendum is set to expire in 2026, and even with the extra cashflow, Ellsworth still projects a $500,000 deficit for 2026-27. With enrollment expected to decline by 44 in the coming year, followed by 53, 10 and 15 over the following years, the school loses out on about $11,000 of funding per pupil. The issue is one affecting schools statewide, leading to referendum quantities further increasing.

The school’s tax on $100,000 of property value in 2025-26 is $728. Under a $2.185 million referendum, that number would be $820. Returning to the $1.3 million referendum would be a $43 increase per $100,000.

Under a $2.185 million referendum, the district projects a surplus of $433,850 in 2026-27 and $57,027 in 2027-28, with a projected deficit of $1,001,437 in 2028-29 and $1,918,578 in 2029-30. Nadeau said forecasts can change for better or for worse after two years due to the state’s new biennial budget.

The forecast would decrease Ellsworth’s fund balance from a projected $5.545 million in 2026-27 to $2.682 million in 2029-30. The percentage of annual expenses in the fund balance would decrease from 22.72% to 10.04%. School board policy requires the number to hold at 10%. Without any referendum passing, the deficit would reach $4.1 million in 2029-30, the fund balance would project to around negative $6 million by the end of the four years and the percentage of expenses within the fund balance would be -22.67%.

In a scenario where an April vote does not pass, all signs point to the district returning to referendum for the November election cycle.

“Most of the people that I have spoken with have already seen basically a 20-30% increase into their taxes,” Mark said. “If we ask for more and they vote it down, we’re going to come back in November, are they going to be even more entrenched.”

Mark said taxes have gotten to the point where it does not matter if the school needs the additional funding to operate, because they simply cannot afford to pay an increased bill. He pitched waiting until November, giving community members a brief period to sort out finances before the district and community collaborate on a number that works for both.

“There’s 421 districts in Wisconsin, currently Ellsworth is at 249 [in revenue limit per member]… Without that $1.3 million referendum, we’d be near the bottom on that,” Board President Julie Lundstrom said. “[The referendum] would kind of keep us in that middle ground.”

Lundstrom said the district exceeded expectations in the district report card, meaning the district is outperforming schools with higher budgets academically.

“We’ve talked about the different cuts that would have to happen, and they are not easy. They’re going to be felt for sure,” Lundstrom said. “None of us are taking this lightly. We’ve given it a lot of thought.”

Nadeau said the nature of the cuts would be attrition, student programs like middle school sports may either have to be funded by booster programs or cease to exist, losing access to athletic training at the high school and potential loss of teaching assistants and other staff within departments. Without a referendum, the district would also have to put off some maintenance items that Nadeau said could catch up to them down the road. He said even with the $2.185 million referendum passing, there will be notable cuts within the district.

“Trying to find anything we can to stay away from staffing, knowing staffing is the bulk of your budget, so it’s very hard to stay away from that and have any substantial reduction,” Nadeau said.

Board Member Jay Acker said if they dialed back and approved a $1.3 million referendum, the district is going to have to return to the community in two years and asked for $2.7 million to keep up with the 10% requirement, a decision that would set both the district and community back.