Ely school officials are working on several fronts to get the word out about the operating referendum that’s on the ballot in the general election.
If voters say “yes,” the district will receive just over $325,000 in new revenue annually - without an impact on local property taxes.
And while the district can’t formally advocate for the referendum, it can deliver facts about the vote and the ramifications and superintendent Anne Oelke did just that this week.
Oelke was interviewed on the Ely Echo’s weekly podcast, “The Pulse of Ely,” and she also went before the Morse Town Board and spoke at an Ely Rotary function.
She briefed school board members about the various appearances on Monday.
At issue is a referendum that came about as the result of an intensive lobbying effort, and legislation backed both by State Sen. Grant Hauschild (D) and State Rep. Roger Skraba.
They helped to pass legislation aimed at helping districts such as Ely that have vast amounts of seasonal recreational property. It triggered a complicated process that requires a voter- approved referendum to increase funding.
After earlier attempts failed, Hauschild and Skraba steered legislation that helps districts like Ely, which have higher percentages of seasonal recreational properties within their boundaries.
Ely and several other rural districts struggle to collect additional revenue from taxpayers because so much property is designated as seasonal recreational. Those properties don’t figure into operating levies passed in local school districts.
Representatives from Ehlers, Inc., a school financial advising firm, indicated that no property owners will be hit with tax hikes as a result of the legislation and instead “state funding will essentially replace what you would receive from seasonal recreational taxes.”
And while state law requires ballot language that states voters are approving a tax hike, shifts in another levy ensure that - if approved- the tax impact in Ely would be neutral.
In order to capture the new revenue, the district must raise its current operating levy from $347.99 per pupil to $1,775, and reduce its current local optional revenue levy.
The net result would be no increase in local taxes and $325,698 in new revenue.
If the referendum fails, the district would retain its current operating and local optional levies but would not be able to capture any new revenue.
In other business Monday, the board:
• Hired Kelsey Donais to be the new high school softball coach.
• Approved the annual arena operations contract with the Ely Blue Line Club.
• Hired Zoe MacKenzie, Brenna Kolstad and Olivia Cauley for paraprofessional positions.
• Accepted the resignation of Amrita Peterson from a cafeteria aide position.
• Approved policies related to at-will employees, visitors to school buildings, student discipline and video recordings.
• Hired Melissa Hart as the new robotics advisor/ coach.
• Hired Kate Rejman for a cafeteria aide position.
• Approved a cooperative agreement with Rock Ridge for alpine skiing, on the contingency of there being no cost to the Ely district.
• Approved various job descriptions for school cafeteria positions.
• Accepted seniority lists for AFSCME Local 295 and the Ely Education Association.
The district’s longest-tenured employee is math teacher Tim Omerza, who joined the district in 1993.
• Hired Andrea Strom (costumer) and Justin Olson (band director) for extra-curricular assignments connected with the high school musical.
• Approved a memorandum of understanding with the Ely Education Association related to workload limits regarding the four-day week.
• Received a revised enrollment report showing 465 students enrolled in grades K-12. That’s down from 482 at the end of the 2025-26 school year.
