The Waunakee Community School District board approved the fourth draft of the 2025 budget and the tax levy as presented at a special meeting on Oct. 30, 2024. The motion passed by roll call; four members voted yes and two were recorded absent.

Administrators presented a revised levy that reduces a previously projected 10.4% increase back to the dollar amount underlying the boards July plan (5.97%, shown as 6% in the presentation). "We are in a position where utilizing one or more of those strategies would allow us to get that property tax levy back to a more manageable number," said Steve (staff member), summarizing the administrations approach.

Why it matters: district officials said the district faces a mix of enrollment declines and state budget impacts that together increased pressure on local revenues. The presenter told the board the districts student count (taken the third Friday in September) shows a decline and that the districts projected loss in state funding rose to roughly $1.3 million—higher than the $1.1 million estimate from July.

Key details: administrators said the district received its Oct. 1 property valuations at about $5.5 billion and finalized the state revenue-limit worksheet in October. The revised levy package relies on a combination of financial strategies described to the board: refinancing existing debt for savings, using savings from the November 2022 referendum projects, and applying federal clean-energy rebates (administration said it has already received roughly $1 million and expects a larger rebate tied to the middle school).

The presentation included fund-level updates: Fund 10 revenue/expenditures were adjusted for final open‑enrollment attendance and new-hire salaries/benefits; a paraeducator position was added at Arboretum Elementary because a newly arrived student required services in an Individualized Education Program; Fund 49 construction payments were ahead of schedule due to the accelerated middle-school work; Fund 99 will include the districts final payment to complete a teacher program moving to an external provider.

Administration also identified budgetary accomplishments—the return of the annual post-employment benefit payment, new contingency and transportation allocations, and an added legal budget—and risks. Of particular concern is special-education reimbursement: the state estimated a 42–43% reimbursement level, while the district budgeted 40% and warned that higher statewide participation in the program could cause proration and lower actual reimbursement than the states headline figure.

Timing and next steps: staff said the use of fund balance will allow the district to make its April payments without an immediate decision on how to permanently cover a $2.3 million levy reduction, but a plan must be finalized by the October payment cycle next year. Budget‑committee meetings are scheduled in the coming weeks to refine assumptions and to prepare recommendations to the full board; administration also plans community sessions (morning and evening) to explain the levy choices to residents.

Vote: the board approved the fourth draft of the budget and the tax levy by roll-call vote. The transcript recorded Carly (yes), Jeff (yes), Mark (yes) and Chris (yes); two members (John and Heather Murray) were absent.

The district will return to the board with more detailed projections, the finalized revenue limit worksheet, and recommended funding strategies to carry into the 2026 budget-planning cycle.