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Rice Lake board adopts $58.4 million 2025–26 budget, approves $21.8 million tax levy
Summary
The Rice Lake Area School District board approved the 2025–26 all-funds budget of $58,428,368 and adopted a tax levy of $21,806,899, citing lower state aid and local valuation changes as drivers of the levy increase.
The Rice Lake Area School District board on Monday approved its 2025–26 all-funds budget of $58,428,368 and adopted a tax levy of $21,806,899 for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2025.
During the meeting the board recited fund-by-fund totals included in the resolution: a general fund (Fund 10) budget of $34,788,299; special education (Fund 27) $5,817,038; non-referendum debt service (Fund 38) $471,827; referendum debt service (Fund 39) $1,457,000; capital projects (Fund 49) $900,000; food service (Fund 50) $1,326,921; and community service (Fund 80) $13,666,933, totaling $58,428,368 in expenditures.
A board member moved to adopt the budget and a second was given. The chair called a voice vote and declared the budget adopted. The meeting transcript records the action as a voice vote and does not record individual roll-call votes.
Board members also presented and approved a tax-levy resolution that specifies $14,551,575 for general operations, $566,791 for bond/long-term loan retirement and $6,688,533 for community service programming, making a total levy of $21,806,899 for the 07/01/2025–06/30/2026 fiscal year. That resolution also passed by voice vote; no individual roll-call votes were recorded in the minutes.
Board members said the levy increase is driven in part by reduced state aid and shifting of some state funding to other districts. The board reported equalized property valuation figures for the district and cited an overall average valuation increase of about 11.75 percent and a levy change of about 9.07 percent. One board member noted that although the certified levy rose by about $1.8 million, district revenue increases were only about $500,000 because of decreased state aid.
What happens next: the levy will be spread upon the tax rolls of the municipalities served by the district as described in the resolution and the budget and levy adopted Monday will govern operations for the 2025–26 fiscal year unless otherwise revised by future board action.
Voice-vote note: the transcript records passage by voice for the budget and the levy; individual member votes were not documented in the record provided.
