Wheatland Central sets referendum date

By Gail Peckler-Dziki/Correspondent

The Wheatland Center School Board unanimously approved a resolution for an Oct. 14 referendum, at the July 30 regular school board meeting. The district is asking residents to authorize $625,000 in excess of the statutory revenue limit for four years.

District Administrator Marty McGinley said the timing of the referendum depended on several different things.

“We could not go to referendum in August because we were waiting to receive the estimate on state aid form the state,” he said. “We need to certify the levy the first week in November, so including the question on the general election ballot was out of the question, since that date is Nov. 4.”

McGinley reported at the July 20 regular board meeting that state aid was up from last year, to $400,000. Four years ago, voters approved a $300,000 amount beyond the revenue cap limits. That is taking more than $700,000 out of the current tax equation. So McGinley said because of “a projected increase in state aid and growth in enrollment, there will be no increase in the levy and no increase in the school portion of resident taxes.”

State aid dropped in the past few years. In 2007-2008, state aid stood at just over $2.4 million and began the downward trend, reaching a low of $1.78 million last school year. That amount is estimated to increase 23 percent to just over $2.2 million for 2014-2015.

Student population was as high as 490 in 2002-2003 and plummeted to 399 in 2011-2012. The student population has been doing a slow crawl up and is projected to be 49 in 2014-2015 and might be as high as 478 in 2016-2017. Assignment of state aid depends on student population.

The state also has a revenue limit for per pupil adjustment. After reaching the high of $274 in 2008-2009, the amount the schools were allowed to raise the revenue limit per pupil began to drop.

In 2012-2013, the school was allowed $50 per pupil. This next year, that amount is $75 per pupil, giving the school $33,000 in additional funds. The revenue limit increased less than inflation.

Wheatland Center has sought other ways to save money. A change in health insurance and benefits netted a savings of $353,695. There has been a reduction of 4.5 full time equivalent overall staff since 2010. Staff began paying 100 percent of the employee required contribution for Wisconsin Retirement System for an annual savings of $183,870.

Total compensation was frozen with no increase to salary or benefits in 2013-2014. The district also combined bus routes and utilized district-owned vans for special education transportation, cutting those costs.

Despite these cost-saving efforts, the district has had to dip into its fund balance to operate, with Wheatland’s total moving from $333,146 down to $35,666. A 17 percent fund balance is considered healthy.

Districts use the fund balance to pay operating costs while waiting for tax payments. Otherwise, the school would engage in short-term borrowing and incur interest costs. A healthy fund balance will allow the school to avoid that practice while allowing the school to earn interest on the money when not in use.

Another piece to the puzzle are open enrollment numbers. A few years ago, Wheatland Center was a school that students left. It is becoming a destination for both district and out-of-district families.

In 2008-2009, 93 students left the district for other schools while only 17 came in. In 2014-2015, the projected number out is 79, while those coming in should be 111. Approximately $6,660 follows students who open enroll from the home district to the new district.

The 2013-14 levy was $3,337,757 with a $9.25 mill rate. McGinley said if the referendum were approved, the mill rate for 2014-15 could be $9.29 per $1,000 of equalized value. If property values increase by at least 2 percent a year, the mill rate could decrease the last three years of the measure.

McGinley pointed out that these numbers are assumptions and could change slightly.

By the end of the four-year period, McGinley said that the building debt would be paid off and the fund balance would be restored to a healthy level.

Regardless, some residents who attended the meeting expressed concern over any increases in taxes. Some are senior citizens who have fixed incomes and are afraid they will be forced to sell their homes. One man said that they had the same problem the school has had, dipping into savings to pay expenses like property taxes.

 


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