Trio of candidates for two open board seats includes outspoken critic of benefits paid to district teachers

Three candidates, including one who has been critical of teacher benefits, have registered to run in the April election for two open seats on the Port Washington-Saukville School Board.

The candidates are Earl Kelley, who recently called teacher retirement benefits “ridiculous,” and Brenda Fritsch and Michelle Mueller, both of whom have children in the district and said they want to be more involved in a school system they hold in high regard.

The three are vying for two City of Port Washington seats being vacated by veteran board members Patty Ruth and Myron Praeger.

The election will bring change to board that has had stable leadership for more than a decade. Ruth will have served on the board for 18 years in April. For 14 of those years, she has been the board president.

Praeger has been on the board for 14 years.

Kelley, 74, who is retired from Patrick Cudahy in Milwaukee, said he was motivated to run by the board’s ongoing effort to create an employee handbook that will replace union contracts.

“Once I found out what type of benefits teachers in this district have, I was absolutely shocked,” he said. “I feel strongly that teachers must have fair wages and benefits, but what they receive now is so much better than what the rest of us get.”

Kelley, who was critical of the board’s decision earlier this year to grant teachers a one-year contract extension, said the board has done a good job managing the district with one notable exception.

“The board has gotten into a rhythm. The whole idea has been to keep teachers happy, and they certainly have done that,” he said. “People seem to forget that teaching is still only a 190-day-a-year job.”

Fritsch, 44, an architect who runs a design firm, is active in school parent groups and serves as chairman of the Milwaukee Area Technical College Technology Advisory Committee. She has three children in district schools.

“I’ve been involved in education for many years and am excited by the idea of being part of such a conscientious and balanced school board,” she said. “I’m very pleased with the board, the staff and the school system in general.”   

Mueller, 43, a technology consultant, said she is also pleased with the education her two children receive in the district and said she would like to use her background to make sure Port Washington-Saukville students are prepared for the 21st century.

“The information age is well under way and we’re a little behind,” she said. “Some of us may be able to eke by in life a little behind, but our kids won’t be able to.

“I get that there are budgets and we have to live within our means, but there are ways of putting technology in the hands of our kids while still balancing the budget.”

Board member Carey Gremminger, who represents the Village of Saukville, is seeking re-election and is currently unopposed. Candidates have until Tuesday, Jan. 3, to register for the April election.

The board is comprised of nine members representing the City of Port Washington and portions of the Village of Saukville and towns of Port, Saukville and Grafton that are in the district.

Members serve three-year terms. The president of the board is elected by fellow board members.

Taxpayers in the city and town of Port Washington will get a holiday gift this year — a tax bill that is lower than last year.

In the City of Port Washington, the owner of a house valued at $200,000 will pay $95.40 less in taxes this year, City Administrator Mark Grams said.

However, there will also be a new $44 annual recycling fee on the tax bill, bringing the overall decrease to $51.40, he said.

The owner of a $150,000 condominium that does not receive recycling pickup from the city would find his taxes decreasing by $71.55, Grams added.

And the owner of a business or manufacturing facility assessed at $500,000 would pay $238.50 less in taxes, he said, noting they would not be assessed the recycling fee.

The total tax rate in the city is decreasing almost 48 cents per $1,000 assessed valuation, Grams said.

Each of the taxing jurisdictions — the city, Ozaukee County, Port Washington-Saukville School District, technical college and state — had rates that were stable or lower than last
year, Grams said.

The largest decreases were 27 cents per $1,000 of assessed valuation for the city and 26 cents per $1,000 for the school district, he said.

This was offset somewhat because the school credit decreased from $18.95 last year to $18.47 this year, Grams added.

The city’s 2012 budget is $8.6 million, a decrease of 1.24% from this year. The budget is supported by a $4.7 million levy, 3.33% less than this year’s levy.

However, the levy for next year does not include recycling collection and the city also decided to end its shared-ride taxi program.

Residents will instead have to depend on Ozaukee County’s shared-ride taxi for transportation services beginning next month.

Grams said the city’s tax bills will be printed by Ozaukee County next week. 

“All in all, Port Washington taxpayers should be pretty happy when their tax bills arrive in the next couple weeks,” he said.

In the Town of Port Washington, the owner of a house valued at $200,000 would pay an estimated $2,796 in taxes, $12 less than the $2,808 paid last year, Town Clerk Jenny
Schlenvogt said.

The overall tax rate is down six cents per $1,000 assessed valuation, she said, from $14.04 last year to $13.98 this year.

The town’s tax rate was up only one cent, from $2.21 per $1,000 to $2.22, she said.

The town’s assessed valuation increased slightly, Schlenvogt said, from $201,454,700 last year to $201,736,300 this year.

On Monday, the Town Board formally approved the 2012 budget of $542,000, a decrease of about $5,000 from last year’s spending plan.

“We had our annual meeting and presented the budget. Now it’s time to adopt it,” Town Chairman Jim Melichar said.

The town tax levy of $447,000 was approved by the electors last month. The levy is down slightly from last year’s $446,400.