Port Washington-Saukville board adopts preliminary 2025-26 budget after hearing on special education costs and tax shift

The Port Washington-Saukville School District board voted to approve a preliminary 2025-26 budget, including a Fund 39 addendum, after a budget hearing in which administrators warned the figures remain fluid pending state budget decisions and audit review.

The budget approved Tuesday night keeps a modest projected surplus and a fund balance that staff said meets district policy, but presenters warned special education costs, state reimbursement rates and a possible $325-per-pupil shift in state aid could change levy pressure on local taxpayers.

Mel, a district staff member who presented the budget, told the board the document is “almost that preliminary budget” and stressed it would be updated as state negotiations conclude. “This budget will change, and it always does depending on everything that rolls out in the state and the final decisions,” Mel said. She also called out two errors in the printed booklet, including one paragraph that is “off by $10,000 right now.”

Why it matters: the district is projecting a small positive balance for 2025-26 but said that several high-cost, variable items — chiefly special education and self‑funded health insurance — could shift results and the tax levy. Administrators also advised that a…