Letter: Mayor supports referendum questions
To the Editor-
On the Nov. 6 ballot, you will have a few referendum decisions to make. I have already made those decisions and I want to share my thoughts with you.
First, is the Portage County Health Care Center or the “County Home”. This facility has served many people over its life so far but, as any building of that age, it has some issues. The Health Care Center Committee and staff have been working on ways to help break even for several years and have done a good job, but they need your help.
It’s a complicated explanation as most things are, but the bottom line is that they are looking for your permission to increase the levy by about $1.5 million to help keep this facility running and taking care of those who can’t afford private care.
The next two relate to the schools. One is for an operational increase and the other is for a capital increase. They need to be separate by law.
“Capital” refers to the 20 buildings that the school district uses. Things like 80-year-old pipes, roofs, HVAC and the like. Things we would refer to as our “house” items or car upkeep. General maintenance has been pushed down the list for years because of the ever-tightening budgets. It has reached a critical stage.
The operational request is the day-to-day costs. These are things like staffing, utilities, etc. We might see operational as things like our household expenses for utility bills, gas or paying the neighbor kid to cut our lawns. That budget is used, in part, to pay the teachers that [sic] teach our students.
The resulting loss would have to mean program cuts on the classes that have lower enrollments or similar reductions.
No one wants to pay more taxes, but we also want our services to remain top notch. Those services come at a cost, the same as they do in your home or the city.
When you vote please join me and vote YES to help support the most vulnerable in our community, the youngest and the oldest.
Mike Wiza
Stevens Point
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