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District CFO warns funding gap, outlines referendum and fund transfers to cover special education
Summary
CFO Angie told the board that special education costs total about $58 million with state reimbursement at 32.4%, prompting a $35 million transfer from operating funds; the budget presentation also detailed voucher costs, declining enrollment, and projected mill-rate effects tied to an upcoming referendum.
The district’s finance team gave the Board a detailed preview of the 2024–25 budget and the near‑term referendum picture, highlighting special education costs, voucher payments, and how revenue limits and property‑value changes shape local taxes.
CFO Angie said Fund 27 (special education) carries a roughly $58,000,000 budget for services and staffing; state reimbursement covered about 32.4% of those unaidable costs last year — approximately $15,000,000 — leaving the district to transfer significant operating dollars into special education. “So this year in 24–25 we have $35,000,000 budgeted to transfer from the operating fund into Fund 27,” Angie said.
Angie and board members pointed to large structural funding features: Wisconsin’s revenue‑limit formula (a per‑pupil cap set in the 1990s), rising costs that have not been matched by inflationary increases in the limit, and statewide voucher and charter payments that reduce state aid before local levies are determined. Angie noted the district budgeted about $12,900,000 this year for private‑school vouchers and that voucher reimbursement for those private providers is much higher than public‑school special‑education reimbursement.
The CFO outlined why many districts turn to referendums: tighter revenue limits, declining enrollment (the district’s September membership was reported as about 19,004 FTE), and aging facilities. Angie said the district balanced a $311,400,000 operating budget for 24–25 and that total expenditures across funds are about $477,600,000. She estimated a mill rate of about $7.65 with passage of the planned referendum (the district’s mill rate was $8.26 last year), but cautioned final numbers depend on tomorrow’s equalized aid and voucher totals.
Board members pressed for more detail on reimbursement disparities, the causes for rising special‑education counts, and the mechanics of levying for vouchers. Angie said state advocacy will ask the legislature for higher special‑education reimbursement (the ask in biennial budget conversations is roughly moving from 32.4% toward about 60% or to a sum‑sufficient model) and that the district will bring final equalized numbers to the Oct. 28 meeting prior to levy certification.
The board did not vote on levies or referendum questions at the work session; Angie said final equalized aid and voucher numbers would arrive Oct. 15 and that the board will consider levy certification and the referendum placement in two weeks.
