Business services seeks $1.1M fund-balance increase, eyes Bound platform and middle-school geothermal work
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Summary
District business services told the board it aims to add at least $1,100,000 to fund balance by reallocating expenditures, plans an operational referendum in November 2026, will consolidate family-facing services on the Bound platform, and discussed a rough estimate of about $4 million for middle-school geothermal work.
District business-services staff briefed the Waunakee board on budget goals, platform consolidation and capital planning during the meeting.
Business services said its goal for the coming budget cycle is to increase the district fund balance by at least $1,100,000 without using clean-energy rebates, reallocating expenditures where possible and monitoring state aid. The office also summarized operational referendum planning for November 2026 and said staff will review community-survey responses to refine proposals.
Administrators described a plan to consolidate family- and community-facing platforms by adopting Bound for registration, athletic ticketing, fundraising and community education functions; that change is intended to eliminate several platforms families currently use (the transcript specifically mentions replacing Class Community and RevTrack functions with Bound features). The switch is planned to begin in the 2026–27 school year.
On facilities, staff discussed seeking state and other funding for geothermal and solar systems at the middle school; an estimate cited in the presentation was about $4,000,000 for geothermal for that project. Business-services staff also referenced a planning figure of $175,000,000 tied to completion of the middle-school project and noted work on audits and the 2026–27 budget draft.
Board members and staff flagged a recent email and social-media post indicating a state budget framework that could increase special education categorical aid (the presentation noted a possible $1,000,000 impact for Waunakee if that aid change is finalized) and might include some property-tax relief; staff said they will re-evaluate the referendum survey financials if the state agreement is finalized.
Why it matters: The fund-balance target and platform consolidation affect the district’s fiscal flexibility and family experience; the geothermal and capital-planning discussions have multi‑million-dollar implications for facilities and future budgets.
What’s next: Staff will continue community outreach, refine the referendum draft between May and July and bring preliminary 2026–27 budget drafts to the board. They will also monitor state budget negotiations that could change aid estimates and prepared referendum messaging accordingly.
