West Allis-West Milwaukee board adopts 2025–26 final budget and $57M tax levy after discussion on state aid and vouchers

The West Allis-West Milwaukee School District board adopted the 2025–26 final budget and tax levy following a presentation from district finance staff and extended board discussion about state aid adjustments, voucher costs and how referendum debt-service premiums affected the levy.

Michael Morris, a district staff member who led the presentation, said the district spent months refining the numbers and framed the October certified figures as the basis for the final levy. “It’s always an exciting time to get to the budget final presentation because we spend 6 plus months discussing it,” he said during his opening remarks. The presentation explained that DPI’s October certification uses audited 2024–25 financials and final resident membership while the July estimate relied on budgeted numbers, producing the most significant differences from the preliminary estimate.

Key figures presented to the board:
- Finalized state per-pupil aid (2025–26): $11,007.63 per pupil.
- Estimated reduction in state equalization aid (net): roughly $2.3 million versus the preliminary projection, driven by statewide shared-cost changes and a $1.1 million bond premium credit that reduced referendum debt service this year.
- All-funds tax levy (proposed/adopted): approximately $57.0 million (fund 10 operating ~ $48.0 million; referendum debt service ~ $3.1 million; fund 80 levy ~ $3.825 million).
- Estimated mill rate: $8.18 per $1,000 of equalized value (about $818 per $100,000 of assessed value); last year’s comparable mill rate was $6.61.

Morris and staff explained several interacting causes for the aid variance: audited spending and shared-cost increases in other districts that drew from the statewide aid pool; the district’s audited ending fund balance and smaller-than-expected transfer-of-service claims; and a bond-premium credit that reduced this year’s referendum levy obligation (which offsets aid differently in the formulas). Board members noted that voucher costs (the district cited a roughly $1 million, 14% year-over-year increase linked to the Wisconsin Parental Choice Program) had an outsized effect on the mill rate; Morris said voucher pass-throughs accounted for about $1.58 per $1,000 of the mill rate in the district’s calculation.

Board members asked for clearer public materials explaining how the school portion of individual tax bills is calculated and requested the finance office post a plain-language page on the district website showing the levy breakdown, voucher impact and referendum components. Several trustees emphasized ongoing communication with state legislators about voucher policy and state aid design.

Motion and vote: the board moved and seconded the adoption of the 2025–26 final budget and tax levy (agenda item 11.1) and approved the motion on voice vote. The chair declared the motion passed.