BRODHEAD - A project aimed at making Brodhead schools more energy-efficient is effectively dead after residents signed enough petitions in recent weeks to force a referendum on the matter.
Under scrutiny is a $1.8 million contract with Honeywell Energy Services Group to oversee building improvements based on an analysis the company did for the district in the past year.
Honeywell guaranteed that the work, which was scheduled for completion by this fall, will pay for itself in energy savings within 20 years.
"If it doesn't, then they have to write us a check," said school board member Mike Krupke, who supports the project.
But petitioners worry a loan to pay for the work would jack up local property taxes in the short term. They want taxpayers to get a chance to vote on the project before the district moves forward.
"It's a million-dollar loan. People should have the right to vote," said Janet Cook, who lives in Brodhead. Explanations of the project in the local newspapers were "too confusing," she said, so she'd want to do her own research before deciding how to vote.
But the timing of the petitions has effectively killed the project, at least as it stands now. It's too late to get a referendum on the April ballot, and since the district estimates a special election would cost a hefty $12,000 to $15,000, the vote will likely be pushed to the fall.
By that point, said Krupke, the district will need to totally renegotiate financing for the project, and the terms as they stand now won't necessarily stay the same.
On Monday, once it was clear enough signatures had been collected, the district canceled its contract with Honeywell for the energy-efficiency project.
Jim Wahl, school board clerk, said he's verified 605 petition signatures, or about 28 percent of all Brodhead voters in the most recent election. This exceeds the 20 percent required by the Government Accountability Board, the state agency that oversees elections.
The school board will decide the next step at its monthly meeting at 7 p.m. Monday, Feb. 27, in the District Office board room at the high school, 2501 W. 5th Ave. Public comment is welcome.
The improvements Honeywell suggests for Brodhead include mostly plumbing, lighting and insulation changes. The biggest single sub-project is replacing the gym roof at the middle school.
Honeywell detailed its analysis in a binder a couple of inches thick. Now that the contract is canceled, the district has to pay the company a $35,000 fee for the analysis, according to superintendent Chuck Deery.
The binder's contents has not been rendered useless, however. Some board members agree the district could use Honeywell's recommendations to make piecemeal changes - instead of Honeywell acting as general contractor, the district would oversee the work.
But board president Teresa Earleywine said doing the work piecemeal would be a challenge, since much of loan money awarded to the district for improvements likely won't be available now that Honeywell isn't involved.
"All we got was a binder of recommendations when it could have been so much more," she said.
The district had forecasted a cost of $112,000 annually for 15 years for the project's loan payoff. It planned to offset this with energy savings, payments out of the general operating budget and, if needed, a hike in property taxes - as evaluated and determined every year by the board.
For the owner of a $100,000 property, this would mean at most a $26 increase, or 2 percent of the total school taxes local residents already pay, according to district estimations.
"It's a way to take care of our buildings without taking away from kids' programs," said Krupke, adding that the tax levy is already scheduled to go down because the district has paid off some loans.
Brodhead's tax levy of $9.14 (per $1,000 of assessed value) is the lowest in the area, in comparison to Albany ($12), Monroe ($11.13), Monticello ($12.79) and New Glarus ($11.97.)
Board member Al Schneider, who voted against the project, said it's still too much of a burden to ask of taxpayers. The number of petitions proved this, he added.
"In the economic times we live in, apparently a lot of the taxpayers thought it was too much," he said.
The situation is not unique to Brodhead. Voters in Grafton, Mass., rejected a similar (though larger) Honeywell project last week. That project involved energy-saving changes to five school buildings and the municipal center. As in Brodhead, Honeywell guaranteed that the savings in efficiency would save residents money in the long-term. According to a local news report, the project would've had no impact on property taxes.
Under scrutiny is a $1.8 million contract with Honeywell Energy Services Group to oversee building improvements based on an analysis the company did for the district in the past year.
Honeywell guaranteed that the work, which was scheduled for completion by this fall, will pay for itself in energy savings within 20 years.
"If it doesn't, then they have to write us a check," said school board member Mike Krupke, who supports the project.
But petitioners worry a loan to pay for the work would jack up local property taxes in the short term. They want taxpayers to get a chance to vote on the project before the district moves forward.
"It's a million-dollar loan. People should have the right to vote," said Janet Cook, who lives in Brodhead. Explanations of the project in the local newspapers were "too confusing," she said, so she'd want to do her own research before deciding how to vote.
But the timing of the petitions has effectively killed the project, at least as it stands now. It's too late to get a referendum on the April ballot, and since the district estimates a special election would cost a hefty $12,000 to $15,000, the vote will likely be pushed to the fall.
By that point, said Krupke, the district will need to totally renegotiate financing for the project, and the terms as they stand now won't necessarily stay the same.
On Monday, once it was clear enough signatures had been collected, the district canceled its contract with Honeywell for the energy-efficiency project.
Jim Wahl, school board clerk, said he's verified 605 petition signatures, or about 28 percent of all Brodhead voters in the most recent election. This exceeds the 20 percent required by the Government Accountability Board, the state agency that oversees elections.
The school board will decide the next step at its monthly meeting at 7 p.m. Monday, Feb. 27, in the District Office board room at the high school, 2501 W. 5th Ave. Public comment is welcome.
The improvements Honeywell suggests for Brodhead include mostly plumbing, lighting and insulation changes. The biggest single sub-project is replacing the gym roof at the middle school.
Honeywell detailed its analysis in a binder a couple of inches thick. Now that the contract is canceled, the district has to pay the company a $35,000 fee for the analysis, according to superintendent Chuck Deery.
The binder's contents has not been rendered useless, however. Some board members agree the district could use Honeywell's recommendations to make piecemeal changes - instead of Honeywell acting as general contractor, the district would oversee the work.
But board president Teresa Earleywine said doing the work piecemeal would be a challenge, since much of loan money awarded to the district for improvements likely won't be available now that Honeywell isn't involved.
"All we got was a binder of recommendations when it could have been so much more," she said.
The district had forecasted a cost of $112,000 annually for 15 years for the project's loan payoff. It planned to offset this with energy savings, payments out of the general operating budget and, if needed, a hike in property taxes - as evaluated and determined every year by the board.
For the owner of a $100,000 property, this would mean at most a $26 increase, or 2 percent of the total school taxes local residents already pay, according to district estimations.
"It's a way to take care of our buildings without taking away from kids' programs," said Krupke, adding that the tax levy is already scheduled to go down because the district has paid off some loans.
Brodhead's tax levy of $9.14 (per $1,000 of assessed value) is the lowest in the area, in comparison to Albany ($12), Monroe ($11.13), Monticello ($12.79) and New Glarus ($11.97.)
Board member Al Schneider, who voted against the project, said it's still too much of a burden to ask of taxpayers. The number of petitions proved this, he added.
"In the economic times we live in, apparently a lot of the taxpayers thought it was too much," he said.
The situation is not unique to Brodhead. Voters in Grafton, Mass., rejected a similar (though larger) Honeywell project last week. That project involved energy-saving changes to five school buildings and the municipal center. As in Brodhead, Honeywell guaranteed that the savings in efficiency would save residents money in the long-term. According to a local news report, the project would've had no impact on property taxes.