Wausau leaders ask voters for $8 million a year to close a $3.7M gap and fix aging roofs and HVAC

Wausau School District Superintendent Kale Bushman and Assistant Superintendent of Operations Josh explained at a community forum that the district will ask voters April 1 to approve an $8 million annual, five-year operational referendum to address an estimated $3.7 million operating deficit and pressing building repairs.

“We are asking the community for your support,” Bushman said, describing the referendum as a community-controlled step to allow the district to exceed state revenue limits. Josh said the ask is structured as a non-recurring operational referendum “for $8 million annually for 5 years.”

Why it matters: district leaders said state revenue limits set decades ago have not kept pace with inflation, leaving Wausau and many Wisconsin districts with recurring budget pressure. Officials told the meeting that, if state revenue had matched inflation since 2009, districts like Wausau would receive roughly $3,300 more per pupil per year — a figure Bushman used to illustrate the long-term funding gap.

Budget and buildings: administrators said the $3.7 million deficit figure assumes modest salary increases and does not include deferred maintenance. To cover both operations and immediate facility needs, officials proposed the $8 million package and said year-one spending would prioritize both the operating shortfall and roughly $4.3 million in deferred-maintenance work; over time they expect more of the funds to shift toward maintenance needs.

Officials singled out the Riverview Elementary roof and air-conditioning as high priorities. Josh told the audience that CESA 10’s elementary building assessment identified about $27 million in deferred-maintenance needs across elementary buildings and about $25 million in recommended building improvements — figures the district said apply only to elementary facilities, not secondary schools.

Zero-tax-rate-impact explanation: district staff said the plan would have no immediate levy increase for taxpayers next year because the board has been prepaying capital debt and the referendum would allow the district to slow those prepayments and repurpose some of that capacity for operations and maintenance. “You pay down your debt faster, you save interest payments long term,” Bushman said; officials said the district prepaid roughly $15 million on bonds this year and estimated outstanding bond principal at about $128 million (an estimate staff asked the audience not to quote as exact).

Public questions and transparency concerns: residents pressed administrators on bond balances, the effect of slowing prepayment on future taxes, potential program cuts if the referendum fails, and the sale of closed school buildings. One resident asked, “If this referendum does not pass what are we going to cut? Where are we going to cut? What’s that going to look like?” Administrators said likely options would include pausing deferred-maintenance projects, instituting salary freezes, reducing elective programming, or increasing class sizes — all described as undesirable.

Staffing and enrollment: officials said pay in the district is competitive regionally but that turnover and statewide teacher shortages are a recruitment risk. They also noted long-term enrollment projections show declines; Wausau East was cited as roughly 65% occupied, and a demographer the district hired provided projections through 2040 showing continued reduction in student population.

Finances and reserves: staff said the district’s fund balance has declined in recent years and was roughly $28.7 million this year against an operating budget near $115 million; they warned that fund balance levels fall sharply at certain points in the fiscal year and help avoid short-term borrowing.

Next steps: district officials directed attendees to the referendum page on the district website for details and said they would stay after the forum to answer follow-up questions. The April 1 referendum would require voter approval to allow the district to temporarily exceed state revenue limits and use the funds as described.