Absentee voting available for Wrenshall, Moose Lake school referendums

Voters in the Wrenshall and Moose Lake school districts are being asked to approve an increase in school taxes to pay for improvements at the schools in local elections set for May 14.

Eligible voters who can’t participate in the special elections May 14 can cast absentee ballots at the auditor’s office at the Carlton County Courthouse in Carlton on weekdays between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. through Monday, May 13. The auditor’s office will also be open for absentee voting from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, May 11. To receive absentee ballots by mail, voters need to make arrangements with the auditor’s office as soon as possible. The office number is 218-384-9127.

In Wrenshall, the district is requesting to bond for $14.4 million, which would pay for a new gym, remodeling the now unused swimming pool into four classrooms, converting the rec building into a space for hands-on technical education and more. More than half the funds would go to improving the air quality in the portions of the building built in 1956 and 1963.

In Moose Lake, the funds will go toward completing the athletic field complex — which wasn’t completed as part of the last referendum. There are two questions on the ballot: one for nearly $4 million and the second for an additional $2.7 million.