After a 2006 referendum failed by a big margin, a local school district is asking its taxpayers for money again.

On Tuesday, the Neillsville School District will ask for $300 thousand a year for five years to help out with operational costs.

Superintendent John Gaier says the district has had declining enrollment for quite some time now and is looking to its taxpayers for some help.

Between rising fuel and energy costs, and a declining enrollment, Neillsville Superintendent John Gaier says it's hard to keep the budget out of the red.

John Gaier says, "There's just no way that you can keep up with the increase in costs."

Gaier says the district has already taken steps to help cut back on expenses.

John Gaier says, "We made reductions in all areas, extracurricular areas, staffing areas, and we're at the point now where if we want to maintain a 21st Century education for our kids, we need that extra money."

And says if the referendum passes, the district wants to plan for the future.

John Gaier says, "Use some of the money to invest in energy efficiencies to the building, so that the long term effect is going to be a savings to the district. We also have a couple of loans that we'd like to pay off a little bit earlier."

If the referendum fails, Gaier says it'll be a struggle.

John Gaier says, "If we don't pass the referendum and we continue to reduce, we're going to have a generation of kids that don't have the same opportunities as kids that have came before them."

Even with a district of only 1,100 students, Gaier says he's proud of what it has and wants to maintain it.

The Colby School District is also asking voters for money on Tuesday.

It has two questions totaling nearly $4 million to help the district pay off debt and to replace heating systems.

We’ll have all of those results Tuesday night on WEAU 13 News at 10p.m.