State revenue shortfall could impact schools

SHAWANO — An expected $2 billion shortfall in revenue for the state might have an impact on local schools unless a budget repair bill is passed by the Wisconsin Legislature.

The news of the state budget in flux due to the ongoing pandemic prompted officials with the Shawano School District to tell the Shawano School Board on Monday that there might be fewer dollars coming from the state when the district passes its 2020-21 budget later this year.

“I’m not sure yet what the impact for the school district’s budget is going to be,” said Nick Curran, district business manager.

Of the $2 billion shortfall, there is about $600 million in state reserves along with about $500 million expected in federal stimulus funds to help blunt the impact, according to Curran. He said that leaves about $900 million for the state to contend with, and the schools’ portion of the state budget makes up about $300 million of that.

Curran said the only action he’s seen at the state level presently was an order from Gov. Tony Evers for state agencies to cut spending by 5%. He added that it seems unlikely schools would be asked to cut spending between now and the end of June, when the new school year would start budgetwise.

Despite no mandate from the state, the district is already taking steps to be very conservative, in case the decision to cut funding occurs. Curran said the district has stopped spending on supplies, and planned capital projects are being delayed. Also, district officials are talking with representatives for contracted services like food service to see where funding can be trimmed.

“We’re trying to take measures that are as painless as possible,” Curran said.

Once the Legislature does a budget repair bill, Shawano and other school districts should get a better picture of what their own budgets will look like, but Curran said it was likely the district would see less revenue in the 2020-21 school year than they did for the current one.

“Hopefully, we’ll see a budget repair bill sooner rather than later,” he said. “Early estimates say it could come in May or June, but it could also be July.”

The district received about $15.3 million in equalization aid from the state for the annual budget, which was just shy of $30 million. The district’s current tax rate is $9.58 per $1,000 of equalized valuation, so any shortfalls in state funding might result in higher local taxes to compensate.

lpulaski@newmedia-wi.com