Board Approves Waukesha School Budget

approved its 2011-12 budget and accompanying tax levies last night.

The budget amounts to $160 million in expenditures, a decrease of nearly 14 percent from last year. Last year’s unaudited expenditures were $186 million.

The total tax levy for the district will be $86.2 million, a 2.9 percent decrease from $83.8 million in 2010. The resulting tax rate is $9.26 per $1,000 of equalized assessed value, a decrease from $9.34 per $1,000 for last year.

For a house with a fair market value of $200,000, the 2011 tax levy would result in $1,852 in taxes – a $16 decrease from last year – for the school district on the tax bill.

The approved budget is subject to modifications in October after the school district concludes its third Friday of September enrollment count and once state aid amounts are finalized.

According to Superintendent Todd Gray, this budget “promotes student achievement without any reduction in programs.”

“Yes, we’ve had to back-off on some of the planned curriculum items but not cut those out completely," said Gray while thanking his executive team for their efforts in building the budget. "I think it’s a good budget overall.”

He also thanked others throughout the district for their sacrifices regarding changes in their benefits that resulted in savings for the district.

The recent changes at the state level in teachers' benefits has been cited as a substantial savings mechanism for the district.

“Nearly everyone in the district is now realizing the reductions in health insurance and WRS (Wisconsin Retirement System) and I’m not taking that for granted," Gray said. "It’s something that everyone is participating in as part of the budget balancing.”