Referendum FAQ

Advanced Manufacturing & Trades (Fond du Lac)
The enhancement of Moraine Park’s manufacturing and trades wing on the Fond du Lac Campus will create classrooms and specialized labs to address local workforce shortages and provide enhanced spaces for instruction in software training, programming, product design, manufacturing and robotics.
 

Manufacturing, Automation and Robotics Lab (West Bend)
The expansion of Moraine Park’s West Bend Campus facilities will add a Manufacturing, Automation and Robotics Lab to support advanced manufacturing, welding, metal fabrication and robotics for apprenticeship degree programs and job training.
  

Fire Training Facility (Location TBD)
The purchase of land and construction of a new fire training facility in the Moraine Park District will help meet the current demand for firefighters and paramedics at the 40 fire departments in our region.
 

Health & Human Services Facility (Fond du Lac)
The enhancement of Moraine Park’s Health and Human Services wing on the Fond du Lac campus will add simulation spaces that model real-world clinics and labs, and update labs and classrooms for our radiography, medical lab technician, surgical technology and respiratory therapy programs.

Moraine Park Technical College plays a critical role in training students for jobs in our area. We serve more than 12,000 students at campuses in Dodge, Fond du Lac, and Washington counties. Our students pursue degrees in many high-demand areas and will fill job vacancies in our district communities. 

While our focus will always be on educating our students, we also need to develop a plan to update our buildings.  

After carefully reviewing the college facility needs for the past several years, we have determined that: 

Aging Facilities 

• Our fire training facility was built 25 years ago at the Beaver Dam campus. This facility is worn out, and the site is landlocked, preventing expansion. Controlled burns pose wind and weather challenges because it is located near Highway 151, a major four-lane road. 
• Many employers in our region are using robots and automation to design, build, and deliver goods. However, our advanced manufacturing and trades spaces are too small, unconnected, and cannot meet current demand. 
• Many of our healthcare instructional areas are aged and lack the technology and equipment now common in hospitals. 

Our Communities Need Our Alumni and Resources
Each year, over 2,000 skilled Moraine Park alumni begin their careers in our community; our alumni are a vital part of many local businesses in our district and Moraine Park is an educational partner to many.  

• There are expected to be more than 14,000 manufacturing job openings in our region in the next 10 years.  
• The healthcare field is one of the fastest growing in our region with over 8,000 job openings expected in the next 10 years.

While our focus will always be on educating our students, we also need to develop a plan to update our buildings. Moraine Park has aging facilities that lack technology and equipment—and many technical college degrees and certificate programs still really require hands-on instruction.  

While we do increasingly offer more online education options, there are still many students and community partners using our facilities.   

With these facilities updates and expansion across the district, Moraine Park will create hands-on/specialized learning spaces that provide real world learning experiences in student safe environments. The growth and proliferation of simulated learning environments—be it in healthcare, fire protection and/or manufacturing—provides safe learning opportunities to experience, build, and demonstrate skill attainment required to perform tasks in settings that are dangerous, life threatening, and/or difficult to replicate in a traditional educational setting. 

Moraine Park Technical College must update and expand facilities to:   

• Respond to the growing workforce shortages.
• Accommodate evolving industry expectations.
• Address evolving technology, including in the areas of automation and robotics. 
• Provide greater access to all district communities.  
• Align with community expectations and workforce training requirements.
• Prepare students and workforces of the future.

The College serves more than 12,000 students across 10 counties at all stages of their careers. We also partner with 27 school districts in our region. Examples of our programs include:  

• Apprenticeships in carpentry, construction, industrial electrician, and wastewater management. 
• Associate degrees and technical diplomas in nursing, welding, accounting, early childhood education, emergency medical technicians (EMTs), and medical assistants. 
• Certifications in manufacturing, information technology, healthcare leadership, advanced industrial maintenance, and industry bootcamps. 
• Continuing education courses in small-business ownership, real estate, automotive, investing, personal finance, and firefighter training. 
• Customized employer training in areas such as leadership, manufacturing processes, project management, and team building. 
• Dual credit courses for high school students in marketing and entrepreneurship, criminal justice, accounting, business law, computer science, basic electricity, and child development.

Dodge, Fond du Lac, Green Lake, Washington counties, and small portions of surrounding counties. 

The majority of students who attend Moraine Park do live within the district. By the numbers, 78 percent live within the Colleges 10-county district. The district includes all or the majority of Dodge, Fond du Lac, Green Lake, and Washington counties; and portions of Calumet, Columbia, Marquette, Sheboygan, Waushara, and Winnebago counties. 

Moraine Park also serves the business and industry community through a variety of bootcamps, professional development, customized training and more. Annually, more than 4,000 people and more than 85 organizations/businesses are served by Moraine Park’s Economic and Workforce Development efforts. 

In general, in recent years, more than 90 percent of Moraine Park graduates are employed within six months of graduating—with 62 percent of graduates staying within the district for employment; an additional 38 percent of graduates are employed within the state.  

The Wisconsin Technical College System sets the tuition rate each year for all technical colleges in the state. Moraine Park does not have the ability to raise or lower tuition rates.

By state law, the amount of money Moraine Park can spend on new buildings, additions, or land acquisition without going to voters is limited to $1.5 million per campus every two years. Any new buildings, additions, or land acquisition beyond the cap (not funded through gifts, grants, or federal funds) must be approved by voters in a public referendum. 

Similar to your local school district, our funding is a combination of local property taxes, state aid, and some federal dollars. Also, like schools, technical colleges are required to seek voter approval through a referendum to pay for major building projects.  

Our mill rate (which is used to calculate a technical college’s portion of property tax bills) has been declining in recent years. This is shown in the chart to the right.  

In addition, we have never used a referendum to pay for facility projects. Therefore, we do not have any referendum debt.  

Our proposed projects are too large to be funded from our annual capital budget. 

No, this is a capital project, and no funds will be used for anything outside of capital expenses.