By Dave Fidlin
Correspondent
A small handful of Waterford Graded School District residents backed a plan this week to move forward with a proposed freeze on the property tax levy in connection with the budget for the 2015-16 school year.
About a dozen residents and School Board members turned out for the district’s annual meeting Sept. 28. Three months into the job, newly installed Superintendent Ed Brzinski hashed over some of the details of this year’s $16.94 million budget.
The subdued tenor of this year’s meeting, which is presided over by residents and not the full board, was in stark contrast to last year’s gathering. WGSD’s 2014 annual meeting was attended by hundreds of residents and, on one occasion, a resident was escorted out as a deputy with the Racine County Sheriff’s Department maintained a presence.
Former School Board member Doug Schwartz, who was defeated in this spring’s general election, presided over this year’s annual meeting.
Brzinski said WGSD encountered a number of challenges during this year’s budget-building process. He stressed state aid, the district’s second largest source of income, is expected to decline precipitously this school year.
During the 2014-15 school year, WGSD received a slight bump of $6.33 million in state aid, compared to the $6.10 million taken in during the 2013-14 school year.
This school year, however, WGSD is expected to net $5.79 million in state aid, though the exact dollar figure will be known within the next month as enrollment data and other factors are taken into consideration.
“It’s affected a lot of our decisions this year,” Brzinski said of the state aid decline.
The good news, Brzinski and board members say, is none of WGSD’s existing educational programs have been cut at the expense of declining revenue.
WGSD’s largest source of income, the property tax levy, is expected to mirror the $10.5 million taken in during the 2014-15 school year.
Because WGSD has historically been frugal and has not leaned as heavily on the tax levy as some other districts, Brzinski said the district is not feeling the pinch as strongly as some surrounding areas.
“This board hasn’t levied to the max in the past (based on state law), so there is some leeway in the budget because of this,” Brzinski said. “It’s going to take us this year to rebound a bit, but the good news is we’re not making any cuts.”
At the beginning of this school year, WGSD launched a 4-year-old kindergarten program, which brought with it a series of start-up costs. Brzinski credited board members for adopting a forward-thinking approach in prior years and planning ahead by allocating funds.
In a more recent unexpected turn of events, Brzinski also revealed WGSD is receiving a $1,100-per-student grant to help offset some of the initial costs associated with 4K.
Looking ahead, Brzinski said he is optimistic for a number of reasons. He envisions the property tax rate climbing upward as the economy continues its rebound.
“We’re not quite where we were at the point of the big drop-off (the economic recession), but we’re getting there,” Brzinski said. “The number of births in this area have increased and families are moving in.”
He added, “We’re starting to see a little bit of bounce back.”
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