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KUSD adopts 2025–26 budget and certifies tax levy after $9.4M drop in state aid; board approves notices and municipal certification
Summary
Board voted to adopt the district 2025–26 budget and to certify a tax levy driven in part by a $9.4 million decrease in state equalization aid and continuing enrollment declines tied to lower birth rates. The board also approved carryover of restricted grant funds into 2025–26.
The Kenosha Unified School District board adopted the district’s 2025–26 budget and certified taxpayer levies after finance staff explained a roughly $9.4 million decrease in state equalization aid and continuing enrollment declines that reduce revenue limit authority.
Finance director Mr. Hamden told the board that changes in the state budget and the revenue limit formula—combined with a long‑term decline in births that drives lower cohort sizes—reduced the district’s equalization aid. "We are losing 9,400,000 of state aid...When state aid goes down, property taxes go up," he said (00:29:29). The administration presented a projected structural deficit of about $3.0 million before planned use of restricted carryover funds and explained that the district is relying in part on current vacancy savings to mitigate the shortfall.
The board approved a formal list of actions: a housekeeping two‑thirds amendment to the fiscal 2024–25 adopted budget, authorization to carry forward $3,042,698 in restricted grants and donations into 2025–26, and final adoption of the 2025–26 budget. The board also certified the tax levies to municipalities: general fund $80,656,892; debt service $12,318,766; community service $1,500,000, and directed the district clerk to notify municipal clerks of their portions by the statutory deadline.
Board members asked for additional clarity about the drivers of the aid loss and noted that some levy growth reflects pass‑through costs the district must collect (for example, private‑school voucher payments and charter school pass‑throughs) rather than new district spending. The finance director explained that portions of the revenue limit authority (for example, an energy efficiency levy used to repay borrowing) also affect the composition of the levy.
What this means for taxpayers: the district presented an 8.44% increase in its mill rate after accounting for a certified 7% increase in property valuations; the board approved the required public notice and municipal certification steps that precede tax‑bill mailings.
