Politics & Government
Not Much Change Seen in Hamilton School District Tax Levy
District will reduce costs by more than $2 million to meet revenue reductions implemented by the state.
Residents of the Hamilton School District gave administrators the go-ahead Monday to implement a $27.5 million property tax levy for the 2011-12 school year.
The levy, which was approved by residents as part of the district’s annual meeting, will drop by $315,544 from the 2010-11 school year. The tax rate will remain at $10.18 per $1,000 of equalized value, even though the district is expecting to see a 1 percent drop in equalized property value.
About 18 district residents attended the meeting to vote on the levy.
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The total budget will be $48.1 million in the upcoming school year, which is down from $50.1 million from the 2010-11 school year. About six full-time equivalent positions will cut.
“We’re not affecting educational programming,” district spokeswoman Denise Dorn Lindberg said. “The impact isn’t going to be in the classroom.”
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According to district administrators, Hamilton will make more than $2 million in cuts to offset reductions in revenue. State aid is dropping from $19 million to $17.1 million.
However, the district is saving some money by having employees now pay a greater share of their pension contributions.
The district also plans to reduce 6.5 full-time equivalent positions and make reductions in capital expenditures, reduce extra and substitute teacher pay, and cut department and school budgets.
The cuts will take place despite a projected increase of 25 students in the upcoming school year, bringing total enrollment to 4,482 and continue a trend of growing enrollment. But the pace of growth is slowing from past years.
“We saw a flattening of or enrollment,” said Bryan Ruud, assistant superintendent of business services. “It’s kind of a mixed blessing though because we’re running out of space in our schools.”
The district plans to spend $10,792 per pupil this year, which is a $590 reduction from the past year and remains the lowest among districts in Waukesha County.
The district is continuing to see benefits of past measures to reduce costs, with the lunch program remaining self sufficient, health care costs remaining cheapest in the county among school districts and a worker’s compensation modifier that’s 30 percent below the industry average.
Budget numbers will be finalized in October after enrollment numbers are released and state aid numbers are certified.