After years of voter rejections, school-construction projects are running at a feverish pace in northeastern Wisconsin because of a boost in state spending.
A $7.65 million addition being done at Denmark High School required seven referendums starting in 1974 before the proposal was passed last year.
Voters approved the measure after the state promised to pay for about 75 percent of the project under the so-called two-thirds formula. Voters no longer had to worry that school construction would mean a deep gouge on their property-tax bills.
The result has been a wave of building, fueled by a backlog of projects and the fear that the state could pull back and tighten its shared-revenue formula.
The state created the formula after it placed spending caps on school districts in 1993. The average paid statewide is two-thirds, but that varies by district.
Since January 1996, Wisconsin residents have voted on 306 school proposals. The plans passes in 189 instances, nearly 62 percent, according to state Department of Public Instruction records.
In addition to outdated buildings needing renovation, many districts in Brown County and some in Oconto County face rapid growth.
