Waterford Graded district budget nears completion

By Dave Fidlin

Correspondent

As a prelude to the district’s upcoming annual meeting, members of the Waterford Graded School Board’s Personnel, Finance and Negotiations Committee this week discussed the proposed 2012-13 budget and property tax levy.

Superintendent Chris Joch presented the committee with the most up-to-date details of the $17.5 million budget, which could still be refined in the next week.

Plans call for increasing the property tax levy – one of the district’s largest sources of income – by 2 percent. In the past three years, the district has maintained a status-quo approach by not raising the levy.

Overall, Joch said he anticipates a 2.6 percent increase in revenue in Fund 10 – the district’s general operating budget that funds most of the daily costs that keep all four schools functioning throughout the year.

During this year’s budget-building process, Joch and other district administrators have anticipated a rise in expenses by an estimated 4.1 percent.

“The increase … is due to special education programming costs, health reimbursement start-up costs, debt service obligations and unemployment insurance costs,” Joch said.

Like all districts across the state, Waterford Graded is awaiting word on the specific amount of state aid, which is another significant source of income for the district.

The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction plans to notify districts of the specific award amount by next Monday, Oct. 15.

Depending upon the amount, Waterford Graded officials could make slight modifications to the budget.

Officials do anticipate a drop in state aid because of the declining enrollment trends in recent years. But Joch pointed to a number of cost-cutting measures that have helped shore up some of the losses, including staff reductions and reviewing a number of contracts, including one for busing.

Moving forward, Joch said strides will have to be taken to find ways of generating income beyond the levy and state assistance.

The issue is to be discussed at the annual meeting scheduled at 7 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 22, in the Evergreen Elementary School cafeteria, 817 W. Main St.

“We have to find other alternate sources of revenue, other than property taxes and state aid,” he said.

There have been changes to the district’s lunch program, for instance, to ensure it is at a break-even point. Revenue from lunches cannot fund other district programs, but dollars elsewhere in the overall budget are needed if the program is not self-sufficient.

The district’s presentation at the upcoming annual meeting will delve into a number of topics, including an analysis of what the mill rate and cost per pupil is in Waterford Graded, compared to other districts.