12/18/2025
A Thought on Our Schools, Our Taxes, and Our Future
I want to take a moment to speak plainly about the school referendum being discussed. Not to tell anyone how to vote, but to acknowledge what I’m hearing across our community.
Many of you are cautious. And that caution is reasonable.
Taxes are not theoretical. They hit monthly budgets. They affect retirees on fixed incomes, young families trying to get ahead, and working households already feeling stretched. Asking for more should never be taken lightly, and skepticism is healthy in a small town that values accountability.
I want to add some personal context, because I think it matters.
My family homeschools. We always have. And yet, when we chose Brillion 11 years ago, the strength and stability of the school district still played a meaningful role in that decision. Even families who don’t use the district day-to-day still live within the ecosystem it creates — through community pride, extracurriculars, workforce readiness, and the signal it sends to others considering a move here.
At the same time, I believe it’s important to be honest about the cost of caution, not today, but over time.
In communities like ours, schools are more than classrooms. They are one of the strongest signals we send about whether Brillion is holding steady or slowly slipping. When investment stalls, the effects don’t show up all at once. They arrive quietly: fewer families choosing to move here, programs getting trimmed, enrollment softening, pride fading. At first it’s barely noticeable. Eventually, it compounds — and fixing it later costs far more than protecting it early.
We’ve seen this dynamic before in other parts of our infrastructure. When systems are stretched, deferred, and patched for too long, the eventual fix doesn’t come gently, it arrives all at once, at full cost, with no room to maneuver. Our wastewater treatment plant is a real example of how long-term caution can unintentionally turn into a heavier burden later, not because anyone acted irresponsibly, but because delay removes options.
This is where two instincts, caution and responsibility, can actually meet.
We can demand fiscal restraint and protect the foundations that keep our community healthy. We can ask hard questions about scope, timing, and accountability without walking away from the institutions that anchor Brillion’s future. Supporting schools does not mean writing a blank check, just as opposing waste does not mean abandoning investment.
As mayor, my role isn’t to pressure or persuade, it is to help ensure we’re weighing both sides honestly. Short-term relief matters. Long-term stability matters too. The strongest communities are the ones that resist panic and resist neglect.
Whatever position you land on, I encourage everyone to stay engaged, ask for clarity, and keep the conversation rooted in what we want Brillion to look like not just next year but ten and twenty years from now.
We don’t build strong towns by ignoring caution.
And we don’t preserve them by avoiding responsibility.
Both instincts are worth respecting and both can guide us forward if we let them.
