EM school board approves $14.3 million preliminary budget for annual meeting
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By LeAnn R. Ralph
ELK MOUND — The Elk Mound Board of Education has approved a revenue budget and an expense budget for Fund 10 of $14,309,879 for the 2023-2024 school year that will be presented at the annual meeting in August.
Total revenue and expenditures of $14,309,879 represent a 4.4 percent decrease, or a decrease of $656,689, over the 2022-2023 school year total expenditures of $14,966,568.
Property taxes collected by the school district are expected to increase from $1.59 million to $2.37 million for 2023-2024, representing an increase of nearly $786,000, for a total revenue from local sources of $2.48 million.
Revenue from students open enrolling into the Elk Mound school district is expected to be $1.38 million, representing a decrease of about $560,000 from the 2022-2023 total of $1.94 million.
Under expenses, open enrollment out of the school district is listed at $517,080, which represents a decrease of $91,838 from the previous year’s total of $608,918.
State aid from all sources is listed as $9,970,532, with $9,047,332 coming from state equalization aid, as well as $56,000 for transportation aid, $50,000 in Common School Fund aid, and $742,000 in per pupil adjustment aid.
Revenue from federal sources is listed at $362,295 that includes $132,801 in Title I aid and $112,000 in Elementary and Secondary Emergency Relief (ESSER).
Expenditures
Regarding expenditures, salaries are listed at $7,013,607, which includes instructional, vocational education, physical education, co-curricular activities, Gifted and Talented and English Language Learners, school board and administration, principals, secretaries and district office, operations and transportation.
The expenditure for salaries in 2022-2023 was $6,743,852, which is $269,755 less than the amount for 2023-2024.
Benefits are listed at $3,138,748, compared to $3,044,488 for 2022-2023, representing an increase of $94,260.
The school district expects to spend $140,998 on gas for heat, compared to $108,460 for the previous year, representing an increase of $32,538; $62,886 on electricity for heat, compared $48,374 the previous year, representing an increase of $14,512; and $231,096 on electricity for uses other than heat, compared to $177,776 the previous year, representing an increase of $53,320.
Technology and software services are expected to cost the district $120,273, which compares to $150,341 for the previous year.
Start College Now payments are expected to cost $50,000, compared to $48,832 for the previous year.
Other funds
Special Education has total expenditures for 2023-2024 listed as $1,925,000 with a $1 million transfer from Fund 10, which compares to total expenditures from the previous year of $1,855,135 and a transfer of $1,119,412 from Fund 10.
The state Legislature only partially funds special education and expects school districts to make up the difference with money from the district’s general fund.
The fund balance for Fund 46, the Long Term Capital Improvement Trust Fund, has a balance for 2023-2024 listed at $2,913,393, representing an increase of $60,000 over the previous year.
Food Service, Fund 50, has an ending balance for 2023-2024 of $460,072, representing an increase of $103,172, compared to a fund balance of $356,900 for the previous year.
The grand total for all revenues, except Fund 27, for 2023-2024 is $17,025,739, compared to the previous year grand total of $19,680,148.
The grand total for all expenditures, except Fund 27, for 2023-2024 is $19,062,008, compared to the previous year grand total of $21,629,294.
Property tax
The amount of property taxes for 2023-2024 to balance revenue and expenditures is $2,369,536, plus $900,000 for referendum approved debt service, for a total of $3,269,536.
The projected mill rate for the 2023-2024 budget is $6.32 per $1,000 of property value, compared to a mill rate for the 2022-2023 budget of $6.36 per $1,000 of property value.
The total amount of property taxes projected to be due per $100,000 of equalized property value for 2023-2024 is $632.88, compared to $635.74 for 2022-2023.
The gross property tax levy for 2023-2024 of $3,269,536 compares to a gross levy of $3,098,650 for the previous year, representing a 5.51 per cent increase, or an increase of $170,886.
The equalized value of the school district for 2022-2023 is expected to be $487.37 million, which compares to an equalized value of $427.89 million for the previous year, or a 13.9 percent increase.
In 2013-2014, the equalized value was $283.53 million, representing a 1.4 percent increase over the previous year.
In 2020-2021, the equalized value of the school district was $406.24 million, representing an increase over the previous year of 4.5 percent.
In 2018-2019, the equalized value was $364.85 million, representing an increase over the previous year of 7.9 percent.
The increase in equalized value in the school district from 2013-2014 to 2022-2023 is $203.84 million.
The annual meeting for the Elk Mound school district will be held August 21 at 8 p.m.
Other business
In other business, the Elk Mound Board of Education:
• Learned that registration for elementary and middle school students will be held August 7 and August 8.
• Learned that Elk Mound school district bus drivers will be doing annual training with Colfax bus drivers on August 10.
• Learned that for the referendum projects, the chiller has been installed and had started operating the day of the school board meeting. The remaining parts of the construction project to complete include doors and other small items.
• Made no changes to the charges for season passes, athletic fees and and breakfast and lunch fees.
• Approved the annual declaration and parent notice of the district’s student academic standards in effect for the 2023-2024 school year pursuant to section 120.12(13) and 118.30(1g)(a)1 of the state statutes.
• Approved the Elk Mound Area School District School Safety Plan per Act 143, which is a requirement for the safety grant received from the state Department of Justice a number of years ago.
• Approved the 2023-2024 extracurricular handbook, professional staff, support staff and student handbooks, teacher compensation handbook, and building level procedural hand books.
• Approved a substitute teacher pay rate of $135 per day for a full day and $70 for a half day. Substitute teachers who work for 20 days non-consecutive will receive $150 for a full day and $75 for a half day.
• Reviewed the annual seclusion and restraint data from 2022-2023 school year per Act 125.
• Accepted the resignation of Jenna Sturgis, occupational therapist, and Michelle Martineau, custodian.
Following a closed session, the Elk Mound Board of Education:
• Approved hiring Michelle Lee as the powerlifting coach.
• Approved hiring Stephanie Ische and Kayla Jackson as paraprofessionals.
• Approved employee compensation, with an average increase of 3 percent to 4 percent.
• Approved hiring Debra Hebert as an occupational therapist.
• Approved hiring Cynthia Mayer as a full-time custodian.
