School officials will have to balance programs vs. taxes
By Jennifer Eisenbart
Staff writer
As expected, the Burlington Area School District is facing a cut in state aid as it begins its budget process.
While the cut isn’t a surprise, there is a great deal of uncertainty as to how to plug that hole. According to officials, it will likely be another choice between cutting programs and raising taxes.
“We’re anticipating somewhere between a $2.1 and $2.5 million cut in state aid,” said BASD Superintendent David Moyer. “It basically means that we have to figure out a way to compensate for that loss in capturing additional revenue, or compensate for that loss in making massive reductions in our expenditures.
“That’s how you close the gap.”
Wisconsin Senate Bill 2 passed both chambers in the last week and is on the governor’s desk. Moyer said that bill is expected to be signed Wednesday.
That bill will push back the deadline for renewing teaching contracts from March 15 to May 15. It gives officials more time before notifying teachers of pending layoffs and thus gives the district some extra time to make plans.
“It gives us more time to examine our budget scenarios and plan for next year’s budget in a way where we can make the best staffing decisions possible,” Moyer said. “Basically, it buys us some time.”
The change also coincides with the new open enrollment deadline of April 30. With accurate open enrollment numbers, the district will be better able to predict class size and student enrollment.
“We won’t make all of our staffing decisions without knowing that piece of information,” Moyer said.
With all that said, Moyer stated that the district is still in the very preliminary phases of its planning. Numbers of specific schools and departments are still in the air – as are the kind of options the district has for dealing with the state shortfall.
“We’re taking a look at what our levy authority allows us to tax for,” Moyer said. “Theoretically, we can access funds through our revenue cap authority that we have not been taxing for.
“The choice that has to be made is how to balance (tax increases and staff cuts),” he added. “We’re trying to come to a decision that the board can support.
“To say what percent the board is comfortable with … is way premature. We’re in the early stages of the budget development.”
To put the loss of state aid in perspective, the district will likely have about 75 fewer students next school year – but will receive a cut in state aid that equates to about 204 fewer students.
“The loss in state aid does not in any way equate with the declining enrollment,” Moyer said.
Exactly what the district will do, Moyer said, is dependent on a number of factors.
“That depends on getting a more accurate projection of our actual state aid,” Moyer explained. “It depends on the amount of money that the board is willing to utilize in fund balance. It depends on what our experience is in our insurance this year. It depends on determining what types of budget reductions would translate into specific programs.”
Moyer said the School Board’s challenge is to determine “what is prudent in maintaining a quality school system, and still be able to be responsive to the community that elects them.
“That’s what they’re wrestling with,” he added.
BASD Board President David Thompson drew some criticism following comments in a Standard Press last week when he stated that, in order to maintain the status quo in the district – matching up the cut in state funding with current programs – the district would have to raise taxes 6-8 percent.
That comment drew ire from a number of conservatives in the area, but Thompson said Monday evening that the comment was simply meant to reflect where the district was at from a funding standpoint from the state – not the board’s intent to raise taxes.
“It’s not meant to forecast what the board would do,” Thompson said.
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