La Crosse school board asking to exceed op. budget by $21 million over 5 years on April ballot

The La Crosse school board agreed, Monday, to go ahead with a referendum question on this April’s ballot.

It would ask the community for permission to exceed its budget by $4.175 million per year for the next five years.

Dave Rudolph, the board’s vice president, said the community won’t see an impact on its taxes.

“By doing this we are not adding to the tax base, it’s just rolling over what we’ve done in the past and it’s a continuation of what we’ve done in the past,” Rudolph said.

The funds, as Superintendent Randy Nelson explained would, “Lower our class sizes, especially at the K-3 level. Using funds to work on buildings. We’ve done a lot of things with our entry ways with these dollars.

“And then we’ll also be using it to support our technology and the infrastructure of our technology.”

Nelson adds there will be no new tax impact on voters. The deal has been in place for 13 years.

Nelson added that the support from the community has been ongoing for several years.

“The board set forth in motion a resolution to move forward and ask the community to continue the operating referendum that’s been in place now, gosh, I think about 12-13 years,” he said.