Private school vouchers — the state’s parental-choice payments to private schools — accounted for a substantial portion of the district’s projected tax levy during Monday’s budget hearing, Assistant Superintendent Mr. Norris told the board.

The district’s staff told trustees that of the proposed $56.27 million tax levy, roughly $9.5 million is money that is passed through to pay private school vouchers. Because the state treats voucher payments as “pass-through” dollars, the district described the payments as an expense in the local levy: “Of the $56 million, just under $9.5 [million] of it are private vouchers,” Mr. Norris said.

Why it matters: Voucher pass-through payments reduce the funds available for district programs funded through the levy and change how taxpayers’ school-property dollars are allocated. Mr. Norris warned trustees the current year is the last in which the program is subject to an enrollment cap under state law; next year the cap lifts, creating uncertainty for levy planning.

Board questions and staff responses
Board member Jane Becker asked how much of a typical property-tax bill is attributable to vouchers. Mr. Norris responded that if the levy ends up near the $56.27 million projection, voucher pass-through dollars would be about 9.4% of the levy and “roughly 19%” of the non-referendum levy — figures he described as approximate and subject to final revenue counts and valuations.

Mr. Norris clarified the fiscal treatment in the first year after a student moves to a voucher school: the district pays the full amount that year from local levy dollars and then receives the state aid offset in subsequent years. “In the first year, yes — 100% of that increase will come from property taxpayers,” he said, adding that state aid for those students phases in later and typically does not fully offset first-year local cost.

High-school voucher payments and per-pupil differences
Mr. Norris also highlighted a per-pupil detail: the district expects to pay about $13,000 for some high-school voucher students while receiving approximately $11,080 in state reimbursement for those students, producing a negative net on a per-student basis for high-school-level vouchers in the current formulas. That gap — and the broader uncapping of the voucher program next year — are matters the district staff flagged as “worth watching.”

Next steps and uncertainty
District staff said they have asked Baird (the district’s financial advisor) and state officials for additional guidance but that no definitive state guidance was available at the time of the hearing about how the uncapping will affect the levy next year. Mr. Norris said the district will monitor voucher counts and update the board as new state information arrives and as fall pupil counts are certified.

Discussion-only versus decision
This was an informational discussion at a public budget hearing. No board action on vouchers or on levy treatment occurred at the meeting; the board will consider final levy adoption during October budget actions after updated counts and values are finalized.

Ending: Board members asked for continued updates. Staff emphasized the figures discussed are projections and will be updated when the district has certified pupil counts and the Department of Revenue finalizes equalized values.