Technical college’s proposal for $49 million in academic and facility upgrades hinges on referendum
By Ed Nadolski
Editor in Chief
A new public safety training center eyed for Gateway Technical College is the centerpiece of an expansion plan up for consideration on the April 2 ballot.
Voters in Racine, Kenosha and Walworth counties will be asked whether Gateway should be allowed to borrow $49 million through the sale of bonds to fund the new $15.6 million training center as well as expansion and renovation projects at Gateway’s Elkhorn, Kenosha and Racine campuses.
It is Gateway’s first referendum since 1988 and the result of recent studies conducted by the technical college to help ensure it is meeting workforce training needs in the three-county area, according to Gateway officials.
“Keeping our regional economy competitive is dependent on Gateway’s ability to produce and sustain a highly trained and skilled workforce,” President and CEO Bryan Albrecht wrote in a letter that was mailed to district residents recently.
According to Manoj Babu, associate dean of business for Gateway, the expansion plan was developed in consultation with business and community leaders with insight into local workforce needs.
“The question was: What are we doing to take Gateway to the next level,” Babu said Monday in a presentation to the Burlington Rotary Club. “This is a response to employer needs.”
The bottom line
If voters approve the $49 million in borrowing, the tax impact on each $100,000 of property value is $9.73 annually for a period of 20 years, or 81 cents per month.
“While we respect the cost, we believe the payback to you, the residents, is even greater,” Albrecht wrote.
He contends Gateway’s responsiveness to employer needs is key to keeping the regional economy humming.
“While Gateway has always focused on preparing students for the workforce, we need to continuously align our education and training with industry standards and expand and diversify our programs and services,” Albrecht wrote.
Because technical colleges are restricted to $1.5 million in capital improvements every two years at each campus, a referendum is needed to make the sweeping improvements planned by Gateway, according to Jayne Herring, director of marketing and communications.
“For us to be responsible and nimble and respond to employer needs, it’s tough (under those restrictions),” she said. “This is the best way we think we can do that quickly and responsibly.”
Gateway has hosted a series of listening sessions regarding the referendum in recent weeks, but the sessions have not been well attended, Herring said. College officials, however, have or are in the process of meeting with local councils, boards, organizations and chambers of commerce throughout the district. Herring estimated Gateway officials would make 40 such visits to explain the proposal and answer questions.
She said people have been generally supportive of the proposal with few negative comments.
The plan
Approximately $39 million of the proposal is for new and expanded academic programs with the other $10 million earmarked for construction of a student center in Kenosha and energy efficiency upgrades at the older facilities in Racine in Kenosha.
Here’s the breakdown:
• Public safety training facility to be built in a central location of 50-70 acres. The center would provide new and expanded training opportunities for law enforcement officers, firefighters and emergency medical workers. It would feature a three-block simulated city (similar to a Hollywood movie set) for life-like training exercises, classrooms, a firing range and an emergency vehicle operation training course.
The cost is $15.6 million, including $11.6 million in land and buildings and $4 million in equipment.
• Expansion and renovation of Elkhorn campus to allow for additional academic programs. Among the new programs/facilities are a food service program and lab; a veterinary technician program and lab; and a new CNC machining program and lab. The plan also includes expansion of facilities for the campus’ hospitality program and welding labs.
The cost is $13.6 million, including $10.1 million for expansion and remodeling and $3.5 million for equipment.
• Renovation of Racine campus to include a new fresh water resources lab. This would include a new freshwater technician program, which is an emerging regional industry.
The cost is $2.5 million with $1.8 earmarked for remodeling and $750,000 for equipment.
• Remodeling of the Kenosha campus to include expansion and renovation of the student services center with repurposing of vacated space for an interior design lab, studio space and a new barbering program.
The cost is $10 million with $7.8 of that total earmarked for the student services center.
• Administrative center and energy efficiency projects. These include the updating of aging heating, cooling and lighting equipment, and expansion of administrative areas.
The cost is $7.3 million with $5 million of that total earmarked for energy efficiency projects.
The actual wording of the Gateway referendum questions that will appear on the ballot is:
“Shall Gateway Technical College District, Wisconsin, be authorized to issue, pursuant to Chapter 67 of the Wisconsin Statutes, general obligation bonds or promissory notes in an amount not to exceed $49,000,000 for the public purpose of paying the cost of capital expenditures for projects which are included in the District’s facility plan consisting of constructing new buildings and facilities; adding to, upgrading, remodeling, and improving existing buildings; acquiring furnishings, fixture and equipment; and acquiring and improving property?”
For additional information on the proposal, visit http://www.gtc.edu/gateway-expansion-proposal.
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Well, me thinks Before we Expand this College, we first ought to Make sure we Have the Jobs for the Graduates in our Own Back Yard don’t you think?
Otherwise, we’ll just be Educating our Kids to Go Move and Live in Other States, that have those jobs and defeat the purpose..
And How many More Teachers , their Salaries and Their Benefits Will needed to be added?
How much Will Tution Increases will pay for all this?
And $49 million at 3% Inflation is over $1.47 Million a Yr alone..
I come up with it costing the Ave. Homeowner over $30 yr with Inflation, over $40 yr in 10 yrs.. added to our Real Estate Bills.. Not $10 a Yr..and that’s not Including the Added Taxes that will have to be Raised to pay for More Teachers, either…
And Won’t it be the Upper Value Homes or the Seasonal Homeowners that are a majority of Homeowners , will be footing alot of this, won’t they?
And they don’t Buy a Home here to Have it be worth more, it’s a Resort home to them.. I think this is Trying to take advantage of those Out of State Home owners , that inturn will Discourage More to Come to Wisconsin and Own a Nice Home and Support Business in the Process..
Show me the % of Gateway Graduates that Got Jobs in our Community, Cities, Towns , Counties & the State even, first.. To justify it needing to Be Expanded..
Retired,
Just like in business, you have to spend money to make money. You want your kids, or grandkids, or anyone’s kids to make a good salary? Then they have to learn a specialized trade. The days of walking into a factory and getting a decent-paying job with decent benefits without a set of job skills are long gone. If you want the economy to hum, making life better for EVERYONE, we need to invest in education and job training. You are quibbling over 40.00/ YEAR (your figures)? That’s 3 dollars and change a month. Seriously….
They sure like spending MY money. Too bad I have no more to give. Please vote NO!
VOTE YES!
Walker severely cut the budget for technical colleges, then went on to whine about a skills gap. What a hypocrite!
What is one of the main things companies look for when they make decisions on where to locate? Whether there is a skilled work force. This is an excellent investment in our economy and a generation of young people who are being slammed by the great Republicon Recession of 2008.
Don’t be selfish and short sighted. If we don’t invest in our young people they’ll be stuck and we’ll be sorry.
Sean, on this one I have to disagree with you. Our young people won’t “be stuck”. Quite the contrary–they will be forced to move to where the jobs are, and it won’t be here. Fortunately, they will have good roads to drive on. That’s important, because U-Haul trucks ride rough.
Sean Cranley is certainly the most well informed individual as well as the most intelligent gentleman. His comments make sense. I hope that this community listens to him.
Dear retired: If our citizens lack the skills to perform in this new work society, business and industry will not come to Burlington. Burllington needs a great publlic education system, a great voc tech system and a hospital that will have a birthing wing. If Burlington comes up shortg on these necessities, young families, and business and industry will go elsewhere. You might have lower taxes, however your real estate value will suffer.