District to exceed revenue cap for 'green' project

Glendale — The Glendale-River Hills School District will use a one-time exemption to exceed its revenue caps and replace the aging cooling tower on the roof of Glen Hills Middle School.

"It is an integral part of the air conditioning system," Director of Operations Jim Beckmann said.

The cooling tower, installed in 1969, needs replacement.

"We have been nursing it along for eight years," Beckmann said. The tower leaks and has required constant addition of chemicals to keep it running.

The school, built in 1969-1970, needs a working air conditioner. Built to the standards of its time, the windows cannot be opened.

As part of the new tower, the district is also installing a Green Machine, a piece of equipment that monitors and filters water going to the cooling tower, eliminating the need to add chemicals.

"It is a filter system so we will never have to use chemicals again," he said.

The $116,000 cost covers the filter, tower and the removal and disposal of the old tower.

The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction granted the one-time exemption to allow for green energy projects.

The School Board decided to exceed the cap as part of its budget plan for the 2010-2011 school year. As adopted in August, the $15.9 million budget is up about $200,000 from last year's $15.7 million, a 2.67 percent increase. In addition to the cooling tower, the district will fix its tennis courts at Good Hope School as part of the overall budget for the year.

General fund expenses, the district's day-to-day operating fund, saw a small 0.1 percent increase from $12,357,000 to $12,373,000.

District Administrator Larry Smalley said an $11,278,633 levy, up from last year's levy of $10,984,965 would be necessary to support the budget. The equalized tax rate is $5.60 per $1,000 of equalized value, down from the equalized rate of $5.62 of last year.

The tax rate projections are based on an assumption of a 3 percent growth in equalized value over the two communities served by the district. Those numbers could change between now and the end of October as additional information about values come in.