School District Improvements: Non-traditional Financing

The Goal Mosinee School District, located in Central Wisconsin, is home to three main schools, Mosinee Elementary, Middle School and High School. The District is home to 2,000 students. Prior to 2016, the District recognized the need to upgrade and improve its electrical, lighting, air quality, heating, temperature control, air conditioning, and air handling systems. […]

Cooperative Building Project and District Lease Levy

The Goal The St. Croix River Education District (SCRED), a six-member educational cooperative district, provides special education and alternative learning programs in east-central Minnesota. Three of its member districts, Pine City, Hinckley-Finlayson and East Central, have a long history of working together on the SCRED-operated “Vision” program, which serves students with emotional and behavioral disorders. […]

$326-Million Voter-Approved Bond Referendum

The Goal Stakeholders in the White Bear Lake Area School District made it clear in community listening sessions: the District’s facilities needed attention. The buildings were an average of 50 years old and could not accommodate the community’s rapid growth and shifting demographics. Most notably, the District of 9,000 students needed a new elementary school […]

Capital Project Levy

The Goal The Lancaster, Minnesota, School District serves an area with a population of 852 people, with agricultural property making up approximately 80% of its tax base. When one of the School District’s multiple Operating Referendums approached expiration in 2021, the District planned to renew the levy. The Solution The District engaged Ehlers’ School Finance […]

Capital Project Levy Revocation

The Goal Tracy Area Public Schools’ voters approved both a School Building Bond and a Capital Project Levy in 2014. With those obligations soon set to expire and facilities in need of ongoing deferred maintenance and improvements, the District needed to determine how best to finance $26 million in improvements. The Solution The District engaged […]

Affordable Housing – Hideaway Station

The Goal The Town of Winter Park undertook a housing needs assessment to better understand the housing challenges the community faced. Home to Winter Park Ski Resort, the Town discovered 78% of its employees were coming from outside Town boundaries. The study also uncovered there were no vacant attainable housing units and turnover of those […]

Recreation Center Project

The Goal The City of Marinette was ready to begin construction on their Recreation Center Project after a decade of planning. The new facility was planned to attract and host concerts, trade shows and smaller gatherings as well as support multiple sporting activities by having an indoor track, gym sections and an ice hockey rink. […]

New K-12 School District Building

The Goal The Rushford-Peterson School District, located in the southeast corner of the state, serves 700 students in a Greater Minnesota community consisting of 70% agricultural property. The District had two schools and recognized their significant needs for facilities maintenance, upgrades and additions in 2000. Their diminished tax base and limited state financial assistance for […]

Utility Infrastructure Financing & TID Creation

The Goal Foxconn Technology Group is constructing an advanced display manufacturing campus comprised of multiple buildings to produce liquid crystal display (LCD) panels for a variety of industries. The Village of Mount Pleasant was chosen in 2017 as the site for these facilities. To aid the new manufacturing campus, the Village needed to extend utilities […]

Financing Electric Service Area Expansion

The Goal In 2017, the Village of Slinger struck an agreement with the Wisconsin Electric Power Company to transfer service area territory to the Village of Slinger by the power company that was previously served. The Slinger Electric Utility needed to issue debt to successfully fund the transfer. The Solution Village officials engaged Ehlers to […]