001Hello, I'm Dimmitri Andrews, the business administrator for the Platville School District. Thank you for joining us for the 202526 budget hearing. Today, I'll be focusing on the highlights of our district's financial status, budget, and enrollment numbers. We'll start by looking at some key points on page 12 of the annual meeting booklet. After going through this information, there will be time at the end for questions, so feel free to take notes on anything that you'd like to ask. We began the planning process for this year's budget back in December 2024. The largest portion of our budget is allocated to staff wages and benefits, which were primarily determined prior to the start of the fiscal year on July 1st. Last spring, the school board approved a 1% salary increase plus eligible advancement for staff. Currently, we are
002in the first year of the 2025 to 2027 state budget cycle, which was signed into law by Governor Tony Ivers on July 3rd, 2025. This has allowed for more accurate projections of our state funding leading up to this point over the summer. However, looking ahead, it is increasingly more difficult to estimate state funding beyond the current two-year state budget, especially with the state governor's race coming up in November of 2026. This year's budget reflects several important financial changes. Last year's total tax levy mill rate was $75 per $1,000 of equalized property value. And for 2526, it's proposed to be at $6.73. Equalized state aid has increased by.14% compared to last year. The district's general fund 10 revenues have decreased by 2.9%. While expenses have increased by n 2.9%. The proposed total tax levy for the
003202526 school year is at the exact same level as last year at 9,583,899. Regarding staffing, there are two new positions, two special education pair of professionals. There were no reductions in staffing, but there has been 29 total retirements, resignations, or job transfers since last year. In terms of maintenance and operations, there's already been a purchase of land adjacent to Neil Wilkins Early Learning Center, continued hail damage roof and HVAC repairs, sound improvements to the high school auditorium, updated door access control software, as well as increases in property and business insurance costs. Page 13 includes the formula to determine our revenue limit for this school year. Schools in Wisconsin are funded partly based on the number of students they have, and it's calculated using a three-year rolling average. Last year, our student membership for funding purposes
004was 1570 students. This year, it's 1559 students, which is a decrease of 11 students. Our enrollment has been stable over the past several years. However, the statewide trend has been fewer students in the majority of Wisconsin's public schools. Finally, at the bottom of page 13, it calculates that our state revenue limit for the 2526 school year is set at $18.7 million. Page 14 includes our mill rate history over the past six years. As you can see, our mill rate amount has decreased every year on this chart, including the proposed mill rate for this year. There's also a comparison of last year's total tax levy compared to this year's total tax levy, which remains the same as the 2425 and the 2324 school years. Page 15 begins with a graph illustrating the annual increase in our
005equalized property value over the past several years. The most recent years have seen the largest property value increases in quite some time, likely due to inflation and property reassessments. At the bottom of page 15, you can see our fund balance as of July 1st for each year. Our fund balance as of June 30th, 2025 is 26%. and the board policy states that it should stay above 15%. Having a solid fund balance helps our district get better ratings for borrowing money, reduces the need for temporary loans, and allows us to plan wisely for the future. The fund balance is meant for one-time expenses, not for ongoing or reoccurring costs. Our fund balance has grown temporarily due to the timing of our hail damage insurance claim crossing fiscal years. While we currently have a healthy fund balance,
006we could run out of funds quickly without more reliable sources of income. Page 16 contains district student count information. The table on the left displays the September headcount for 2025 on the far left, followed by the September headcount for 2024 to the right of that. There's a difference of 15 students between the two years. Our current headcount, which represents students occupying our seats, is 1540 students. Although our although our headcount is slightly lower compared to last year, it has remained relatively stable over the past 10 years. On page 17, the first pie chart shows our different categories of general funds in fund 10. In our general revenues, about 27% comes from property taxes, 64% comes from state sources, and 3.8 from federal sources. The second pie chart highlights the sources of our revenue limit. 32
0071.5% comes from local property taxes, and 67 12% comes from state aid. The Fund 80 community service fund supports community services in our schools. This year, the total budget for Fund 80 is 125,000. The tax impact of Fund 80 is approximately 1.3% of the total district's total levy. Its funded services are a weekend custodian employed by the district and a community resource and crossing guard contracted through the city of Platville. Pages 19 through 23 has our official budget adoption information. Our major funds list revenues first and expenses second. It starts with fund 10 which is our general fund where the majority of school district business takes place. It follows with information on our special project funds, fund 21, our special education fund, fund 27, our debt service funds, 38 and 39, our food service fund
008which is fund 50, and lastly our community service fund fund 80. At the bottom of page 23, there's a table with the total expenditures of all of our district funds combined. Below that section, it shows the proposed property tax levies. On the far right column, it shows each of our major funds proposed tax levies for this school year. The general fund is our main fund with a tax levy of 6,53,824. The referendum debt service fund includes our annual debt payments due on our voter approved capital referendums from 2015 and 2022. It also includes defasing debt similar to how the district has done in the past to keep the total tax levy amount stable and to save money on future interest costs. Then it shows the 2526 community service fund fund 80 tax levy at 125,000.
009There is a larger increase because we had a surplus to decrease from the prior year. In the bottom right hand corner, the table shows that the total school levy remains the same as the past two years at 9 million583,899. Pages 24 through 26 contain our current debt information. The first table shows details about our 2015 capital referendum and the second table covers the most recent 2022 capital referendum, both of which improved our facilities. Pages 27 through 30 have definitions of the financial terms mentioned throughout. On page 31, there's a graphic of our district's you belong statements along with our professional learning community poster. As we conclude the 2025 2026 budget hearing, I'd like to take a moment to reflect on the key aspects of our financial situation. Our district continues to prioritize responsible budgeting, ensuring
010that we meet the needs of all of our students, staff, and community while remaining fiscally sound. The district and school board have worked hard to keep the tax levy stable despite rising costs and to maintain our district's commitment to highquality education. I want to acknowledge the work of our staff and school board in managing resources carefully and planning for the future. I hope today's presentation has provided clarity on the district's financial health, our enrollment trends, and the steps we're taking to ensure a long-term sust sustainability in our district. I encourage you to stay engaged with us as we move forward. Your support and involvement are vital in shaping the future of our schools so that the Platville School District can ensure high levels of learning for all in a safe, inclusive learning community, every student,
011every day. Thank you.