Wausau School District committee recommends $118.6M preliminary budget and $45.76M projected tax levy; annual meeting set for Sept. 23

The Wausau School District Education Operations Committee on Aug. 26 recommended a preliminary 2024–25 general fund budget of $118,625,616 and a projected tax levy of $45,763,554 to be presented at the board’s budget hearing and annual meeting on Sept. 23.

Mister Vigoot, assistant superintendent of operations, told the committee the district’s equalized property value is projected to increase about 9.98% for the 2024–25 mill-rate calculation, moving the district total from roughly $5.6 billion to about $6.2 billion. "We were just a little over $108,000 for the year and the budget was about $95,000," he said when summarizing legal counsel expenses, and later outlined the budget numbers used for the preliminary recommendation.

Vigoot described drivers of the district’s roughly $1.5 million deficit: higher health insurance costs for a second consecutive year, salary increases of approximately 3%, and the scheduled sunset of one-time ESSER federal funds in September, which previously helped balance budgets. He also noted an estimated year-over-year increase of nearly $6.7 million in state general aid that offsets some pressure on the levy.

The recommended levy total of $45,763,554 reflects a projected 7.72% decrease from last year’s levy and is broken down by fund: a general fund levy projected at about $20,001,186 (down roughly 16%), a debt service levy near $24,373,765, and a $130,000 increase in the community service levy to support programs such as the district’s SRO contract. Vigoot told the committee that roughly $2 million of the debt service levy covers payments on prior energy-efficiency programs and about $15 million is projected to pay future obligations.

The committee voted by voice to recommend the preliminary general fund budget and the projected tax levy to the full Board of Education for presentation at the Sept. 23 annual meeting and budget hearing. Members asked staff to provide a list of allowable uses for the community service levy at the next meeting and to include the information in board materials.

The committee also noted the district’s debt-defeasance strategy — prepaying capital debt to save interest — and reported that the district has retired more than $54 million in future debt and saved over $7 million in interest in the past six years, a practice staff said helps manage the mill rate.

Next steps: the Board will consider the recommended preliminary budget and levy at the Sept. 23 budget hearing and annual meeting; final levy adoption and certified property values are expected after Department of Revenue certification in October.