District tax rate expected to drop again

SHAWANO — Officials with the Shawano School District are anticipating that its tax rate will decrease slightly, based on estimates that property valuations could go up 2%.

The Shawano School Board voted 7-1 Monday on the budget draft to be presented at the district’s annual meeting Sept. 23. Board member Mart Grams voted against.

Business manager Louise Fischer estimates that the tax rate, currently at $9.69, would drop to $9.62 if the value estimates hold true. If they’re conservative, the rate could drop to $9.53 if property valuations went up 3%. The rate is based on $1,000 of equalized valuation, so someone who owns property valued at $100,000 currently pays $969, and the bill would drop to $962 with a 2% increase.

“Shawano School District is very good at managing its money,” Fischer said. “They’ve always been very frugal, very conscientious of what they spend.”

Fischer believes the district will experience its third consecutive year of declining enrollment, although firm numbers will not be known until the official count takes place on the third Friday in September. She estimates the district is losing 25 students this year, and since state aid is based on student count, it will impact how much money Shawano receives, as the funding is determined on a three-year rolling average.

Fischer said the state’s biennial budget provided more money per student, about $175. The district also qualifies for high poverty aid for the first time in four years, and the aid is determined by the percentage of students qualifying for free and reduced meals.

“It does not mean more money for the district,” Fischer said. “What it means is money from the state that goes against the property tax levy.”

About 64% of the district’s budget revenue comes from state aid; the remainder comes from local property taxes.

“The state controls about 85% of a district’s revenue, and that’s through the property taxes and the state equalization aid,” Fischer said. “When they’re talking about the state budget and how they’re going to divvy up the state equalization aid, obviously we want more, not less.”

Fischer touched on the school voucher program, which allows students to attend private schools using public funding. She said about $728,000 is allocated in the district’s budget to cover vouchers for students going to St. James Lutheran School, Sacred Heart Catholic School and Wolf River Lutheran High School.

There are potentially 92 vouchers available to the three parochial schools, and about 56 cents of the district’s tax rate pays for those vouchers, according to Fischer.

“Because we have three parochial schools in our district, that number has been maximized every year,” she said.

The district is expected to see increases in health and dental insurance premiums for employees, salary increases and more totaling about $500,000. To counteract those increases, the district eliminated some positions, including one administrator, cut individual school budgets and the district’s wellness budget and went with a different life insurance vendor, among other things.

“The district is presenting a balanced budget at this time for 2019-20,” Fischer said. “This may change between now and October. But for right now, we’re balanced.”

lpulaski@newmedia-wi.com