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Pewaukee School District presents balanced 2024–25 finances and electors give advisory approval to $27.62 million levy
Summary
District finance staff said the 2024–25 operating budget finished within roughly 0.1% of projections, leaving a ~26% general fund balance; electors cast an advisory vote approving a $27,619,410 levy, while board members retain statutory authority to set a final levy in October.
John (assistant superintendent/CFO) told electors the combined operating revenues for funds 10 and 27 were about $38 million against roughly $39 million in expenditures for 2024–25, leaving a gap of about $40,000 — roughly one-hundredth of a percent of the budget. “We did complete the year with a fund balance in the general fund of about 26%,” he said, noting the board’s policy sets a 15% minimum.
John said the district’s budget development had confronted a previously projected $1.2 million deficit during 2024–25 but finished the year close to plan. He described long-range capital work tied to an April 2024 referendum and said those projects were about 25–30% complete as of the end of June. John outlined revenue drivers including resident FTE (headcount) and state equalization aid and warned that final levy figures depend on the September pupil count, the state aid certification (Oct. 15) and certified property values later in the fall.
Electors questioned enrollment projections and the mechanics of special-education funding. John said demography projections (he referenced the UW Applied Population Lab) and birth-rate trends support a short-term leveling of enrollment; he also explained special-education costs are paid by districts with state aid offsetting a portion and transfers from the general fund to net the special-education fund toward zero.
The meeting moved from presentation to formal annual-meeting business, where an elector moved that “a tax in the amount of $27,619,410 be levied upon the taxable property of the school district of Pewaukee for the 2025–2026 school year.” The motion was seconded and put to an advisory show-of-hands vote; the vote-counter reported the result as 16 yes, 2 no. John and the presiding officer reiterated that the annual meeting vote is advisory under state law and that the elected board retains statutory authority to set or adjust the final levy at its October meeting.
Votes and next steps: The advisory vote signals community preference and will be part of materials the board considers in October when the board certifies the final levy. The district will finalize budgets after the September pupil count and state aid/value certifications in October.
