State aid numbers released; taxpayers to see about 11 cent drop on this year’s mill rate despite potential passage of referendum
By Kellen Olshefski
SLN Staff
General state aid numbers from the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction were released Oct. 15, as required by state statute, and according to officials at the Elkhorn Area School District, the 2016-2017 budget is right on track.
Of the $4.584 billion appropriated for state aid in the 2016-2017 school year, the Elkhorn Area School District will receive $15.5 million, an about $755,000 increase from last year’s $14.7 million.
Elkhorn Area School District Superintendent Jason Tadlock said Monday with the district receiving more state aid in the past two years, they were projecting for the levy to go down again. As such, he said with the official figures released, even if the $22.5 million referendum on the Nov. 8 ballot passes, taxpayers within the school district can still expect to see an about 11 cent per $1,000 of equalized value decrease on the school’s portion of their tax bills next spring.
On a property assessed at $100,000, this equates to about $1,100 in savings.
“There’s not many districts out there that could potentially pass a $22.5 million dollar referendum and still have the levy go down by 11 cents per $1,000,” he said. “It’s a benefit for taxpayers inside the school district.”
Tadlock said the second question of the two-part referendum, which calls for $300,000 recurring annually for operating costs, wouldn’t impact the school’s budget until the 2017-2018 school year and wouldn’t effect this year’s tax levy. He said the district wouldn’t start including that until after construction on referendum projects was underway.
Tadlock said additional state aid does not increase the district’s budget by a single cent, though depending on the difference between estimated state aid and actual state aid, can lower the local taxpayers portion of the tax levy. He said being that the district’s budget consists of two factors – state aid and the tax levy – when one goes up, the other goes down.
Tadlock said state aid is calculated through a school funding formula based off of property value within a school district. While property values in the EASD are rising and are still in the high-value range, Tadlock said, comparatively, they’re not rising as fast compared to other areas of the state. As a result, he said, the district received more state aid than districts with property values rising quicker.
Tadlock said estimating state aid can be difficult, as property values aren’t out until fall of the budget year and the preliminary budget is completed and voted upon at the annual meeting in July. He said with state aid released, the district will be officially finalizing the budget at the end of October or beginning of November.
