Sewers and Referendums: What it All Means for the Wallet

With a $13 million School District referendum approved for the April 5 ballot, and an ambitious $71.5 million plan proposed by village officials for much needed sewer repairs looming, what does that mean for the taxpayers’ pocket book?

In other words, if everything goes through, how much more is it all going to cost you?

Well, including both measures, on the property tax bill for a home assessed at $300,000, you can expect to pay an additional $336 next year.

However, that isn't the only place you can expect to fork out more. Paying for sewers will increase more than just your tax bill — it will hit your pocketbook in a variety of ways.

Based on that same $300,000 home value, your sewer fee will increase next year by $37, storm water user fee will increase $56 next year and at some point, residents may be asked to have private lateral or foundation drain work done on their property, adding a special assessment of $815 to the tax bill annually over a 10-year span.

The plan proposed at a calls for reconfiguration of the village's system to complete four goals:

• Provide sewer backup protection for 2 inches of rain in one hour in the whole village by 2015.
• In the long term, provide backup protection for 4 inches of rain in one hour.
• By 2035, separate storm and sanitary sewers that currently combined.
• Reduce street flooding throughout the village to prevent pooling water from coming within 2 feet of any building opening during 3-inch-per-hour rainfall by 2020.

The Shorewood School District rolled out three possible short-term solutions to address what would be a $700,000 budget deficit next year, increasing from that to a projected $872,000 if no action is taken.

The district decided at a meeting, after months of debating, to combine two items on the April 5 ballot into a single question — whether to refinance the district's debt to the Wisconsin Retirement System and borrow $13 million to fund non-pension retirement benefits for employees. The measure will effectively shift money out of operating costs and into a trust fund to be set up with the $13 million, freeing up more money for the classroom. A suggestion allowing the district to spend $1 million over their state-imposed revenue cap was shot down early in discussion.