By Dave Fidlin
Correspondent
Well aware of the budget-crunching issues impacting their school budget, Washington-Caldwell electors Monday night faced the future with the same kind of composure Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers has asked his fans to adopt in the face of adversity.
After sounding a distress signal last month, leaders in the Washington-Caldwell School District can remain assured that expenses for the remainder of the 2014-15 school year will be covered, thanks to action taken at the district’s Oct. 27 annual meeting.
But bridging the financial gaps that came as a result of declining enrollment and sluggish property values comes with a price.
Residents living within Washington-Caldwell’s boundaries will incur a 15.12 percent increase in taxes when the bills are mailed in December.
Seven electors attended the district’s annual meeting Oct. 27 and voted unanimously in favor of increasing the property tax levy, which is the district’s largest source of income. Five of the electors are School Board members, and two were residents.
Since the start of school, Superintendent Mark Pienkos and Financial Secretary Rachel Opgenorth have been gauging community feedback on the best way to address Washington-Caldwell’s financial challenges.
Steps included a feedback session, held in late September. There, dozens of attendees were overwhelmingly in support of raising taxes to ensure all of Washington-Caldwell’s existing programs and staffing remain intact.
The district’s budget for the 2014-15 school year is $3.43 million — an 8.17 percent increase from the 2013-14 budget, which totaled $2.84 million.
With the infusion of additional levy dollars added into the equation, Opgenorth said the district’s revenues total $3.07 million, meaning more than $364,000 needs to be extracted from the reserves in the district’s fund balance to shore up the remainder of the deficit.
State aid, which is the district’s second largest revenue source, has decreased $144,000 this school year as a result in Washington-Caldwell’s enrollment declines.
Additionally, Opgenorth said the district has lost a rural education achievement program grant that had been used to fund $24,299 of the district’s operations in years past.
The 7-0 vote taken on the levy amount at the annual meeting was advisory, and the School Board held a special meeting immediately afterward to make a final, definitive vote. All members voted in favor of the 15.12 percent increase, which solidified the amount.
Electors at the annual meeting also weighed in on 14 other resolutions for district-related issues.
These include setting School Board members’ salaries for the next year. Compensation remains flat, in year-over-year comparisons.
The annual salary breakdown is: $1,650 for president and clerk; $1,550, treasurer; and $1,450, vice-president and director.
Several of the resolutions — including those concerning the purchase and sale of school property — were mere formalities and do not reflect any specific plans on the horizon.
“We’re not planning anything right now,” Pienkos said. “But if something unforeseen were to come up, you (electors) would give us the option to do something. Otherwise, we would have to wait until next year to get your approval. This is why the annual meeting is so important.”
Other resolutions are forward-thinking and not reflective of the current school year. For example, electors voted to set student fees for the 2015-16 school year at $15 for 4-year-old kindergarten students, $30 for students in 5-year-old kindergarten to grade 5 and $50 for students in grades 6 to 8.
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