School district braces for $1.5 million shortfall

WAUPACA – It was confirmed at the Oct. 28 school board meeting that the School District of Waupaca will be facing a projected one and a half million dollar shortfall for the upcoming school year.
With a lower state aid and higher school voucher funding increase, the district will be raising the mill rate $.40 for the upcoming tax cycle, which will bring the rate to $5.35.
Despite the raise to the mill rate, the district still remains the 35th lowest rate in the state, out of 421 school districts, said Mark Flaten, the district administrator.
Within the area of neighboring districts, with Wild Rose at $5.38, Almond-Bancroft at $5.76 among the lowest and Tomorrow River district at $7.99 being the highest in the area.
The State of Wisconsin determine the annual budget for school districts, they allocate funds and set local taxing authority, Austin Moore, the business director in the district, said during a recent presentation at a Rotary Club meeting.

Moore said last year the district was 50/50 on funds, meaning half of their funding came from state aid and half from local taxes.
Moore said state aid was frozen and now 57% of the budget this year will be coming from local taxes due to the state’s decision.
State aid is based on property values in the district, districts that are “property rich” and “property poor” receive differing amount of aid.
Flaten said due to this allocation process and the Waupaca school district being one that is property rich which contributes to a lesser amount of aid received.
A recently passed operating referendum for the Milwaukee school district, in the amount of $252 million dollars has also affected the amount of school aid allocation in the state, Flaten said.
The Milwaukee school district is considered a property-poor district, and with the increased funding it means there is less for the remaining 420 districts around the state.
Flaten said due to this loss it will need to be made up for in taxes.
However, the property taxes collected within the district can also be sent out of the district, in the form of the Parental School Choice Program for private schools or religious schools.
When a parent chooses for their child to go to a school outside of the public school district in which they live, there would then be a redistribution of funds from within the district tax collected to the new school district.
This year those funds exceeded $1,500,000, or 10% of the tax levy, with a larger portion going to the Waupaca Christian Academy and a smaller portion to Karis Academy.
Flaten said that enrollment has still stayed up in the district.
“We have a net positive for open enrollments, which is a great thing, which means people are invested in and realize what we have to offer is doing well,” he said.
There is also a voucher program that allows parents within an income eligibility level to receive state-funded vouchers to assist in the payment of tuition for private or religious schools. Flaten said these vouchers are created by reducing funding to public schools.