Boyceville School District ranks third from the bottom in spending
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By LeAnn R. Ralph
BOYCEVILLE — The Boyceville school district ranks third from the bottom for school spending — 418th out of 421 school districts in the state.
But just because the Boyceville school district does not spend as much money as other districts does not mean Boyceville does not have the same kind of expenses.
Last year was a tough budget year that ended up with deficit spending, said Nick Kaiser, school district administrator, at the Boyceville school district annual meeting on October 11.
The district had some immediate maintenance projects that could not wait and also was dealing with increased costs for goods and services because of inflation as well as problems with supply and demand, he said.
The school district’s deficit amounted to a little over $200,000, he said.
The state budget does hold some good news for school districts, Kaiser said.
The budget includes a $250 increase in per pupil aid. Unfortunately, the increase does not match the rate of inflation. The per pupil amount for state aid has stayed the same for a number of years, and to match the rate of inflation, the increase would have to be closer to $400 per student, he said.
School districts were set to find out the exact amount of state aid they would receive on October 13, Kaiser noted.
The school district’s equalized value is $517 million, representing an increase of 24.4 percent. The average increase in equalized value in Wisconsin is 13 percent, he said.
School districts also received an increase in the property tax levy limit, from $10,000 per student to $11,000 per student. The property tax levy limit increase will not be offset by state aid in the first year, Kaiser said.
The per pupil increase of $250 also is not enough to offset the $1,000 increase in property tax levy, he noted.
The Boyceville school district is expecting $6.15 million in state aid, but because more money in the state budget went to school vouchers, that may impact the amount of state aid, Kaiser said.
Information on the amount of state aid will be ready for the Boyceville school board’s October 25 meeting, he said.
The focus for the 2023-2024 school year will be on student and staff well-being, student growth, retaining employees, school safety and student enrollment, which has slowly been declining, Kaiser said.
Budget
The proposed general fund revenue budget for the Boyceville school district for 2023-2024 is $9.87 million, and the proposed general fund expenditures are $10.09 million, according to information from the budget report distributed at the annual meeting.
The special education budget for 2023-2024 is $1.78 million in revenue and expenses.
Boyceville will receive $445,455 in state aid for special education and will receive $199,145 in federal aid, leaving $1.098 million that must be transferred from the school district’s general fund to cover special education costs.
The school district’s capital projects fund will have revenue of $10,000 with an ending fund balance of $20,100.
Money from Fund 46, the capital projects fund, cannot be spent until 2025, Kaiser said.
School districts must put money into Fund 46 for five years before the districts can start withdrawing money from the fund.
The food service budget is $475,000 and had a beginning fund balance of $110,445.
The food service budget can only carry over a certain amount each year, Kaiser noted.
The community service budget is $85,000.
The community service advisory council has been started again, and now the school district can levy money for the community service fund. There are plans for the ball fields and for adult education, Kaiser said.
Mill rate
The equalized value in the Boyceville school district for the 2023-2024 school year is $517 million, compared to $416 million last year.
The equalized value in 2021 was $372 million, and in 2020, the equalized value was $339 million.
The total property tax levy will be $3.54 million for the 2023-2024 school year, compared to $3.3 million last year and $3.01 million the previous year.
The mill rate for the 2023-2024 school year is expected to be $6.84 per $1,000 of property value.
The mill rate last year was $7.95 per $1,000 in property value, and the year before, it was $8.10.
In 1992, the equalized value was $78.2 million, with a total property tax levy of $1.62 million and a mill rate of $20.71 per $1,000 in property value.
To put it in perspective, a property valued at $100,000 in 1992 would have paid a school property tax of $2,071.
At today’s property value, a $100,000 property in 1992 would now be valued at closer to $600,000.
A property valued at $100,000 for the 2023-2024 school year will be paying $684 in school property tax levy.
Debt service
The Boyceville school district’s total indebtedness at the end of the fiscal year on June 30 was $1.99 million.
Last December, the final payment was made on $780,000 in debt.
Another $423,645 in debt will be paid off in December of 2029.
In December of 2027, $4.16 million in debt will be paid off along with another $2.055 million in debt.
The Boyceville school district’s debt was refinanced in 2017.
The 2023-2024 debt service budget is $1.46 million.
Enrollment
The third Friday in September count for the Boyceville school district from kindergarten through sixth grade was 368, which compares to 384 last year.
Fifth grade had the most students with 54, and fourth grade had the fewest students with 38. Kindergarten had 49 students.
Seventh and eighth grade had 111 students, which compares to 103 last year.
Ninth grade had 50 students, which compares to 61 the year before.
Tenth grade had 57 students, which compares to 52 students last year.
Eleventh grade had 55 students, which compares to 50 students the year before.
Twelfth grade had 49 students, which compares to 50 students last year.
The total full-time equivalency in the district is 701 students, which compares to 719 full-time equivalency students last year.
