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Staff member says Wauwatosa School District projects about $523,000 unaudited surplus
Summary
At a June meeting, a staff member presented unaudited June 2026 financials showing an anticipated surplus of roughly $523,000, driven by salary and benefit underspends and insurance recoveries, and said the district now expects to add about $500,000 to fund balance rather than draw down $3.1 million.
A staff member at a June meeting of the Wauwatosa School District said the district expects to finish fiscal year 2026 with an unaudited surplus of about $523,000.
The presenter said the result reflects both revenue and expense performance and cautioned the figures are unaudited and subject to change as year-end transactions are finalized. "I won't bury the headline," the staff member said, "we are finishing the year better than budget, pretty substantially better than budget."
The district had budgeted to spend about $3.1 million from fund balance this year; the presenter said that plan included a component tied to a property tax chargeback. Instead, the district now anticipates putting roughly $500,000 into fund balance. The presenter attributed the shift largely to underspending on salaries and related benefits and to insurance reimbursements for flood-related costs.
On the revenue side, slides shown at the meeting compared budget, projection and actual figures through May and June. The presenter said total revenues finished very close to budget. By source, local revenue finished slightly ahead of projection, state revenue was slightly behind, and federal revenue lagged but could increase as some federal grants are still expected to be booked into fiscal 2026 in the coming weeks.
On expenses, the presenter said salaries tracked about 1% under projection during the year and finished roughly 4% under in final results; the presenter said salaries were about $2,000,000 better than budget and benefits about $1,500,000 better. The district runs five teacher payrolls at the end of June, the staff member said, which makes exact projections harder until those payrolls are posted. Purchase services finished slightly over projection, the presenter said, mainly because of costs from a recent flood that were largely covered by insurance minus the district deductible.
The staff member said the district will make adjustments to its projection algorithm to tighten future forecasts. The presenter reiterated that the numbers are unaudited and that routine year-end transactions could still alter final audited results.
