August 7, 2019 at 4:00 PM - Budget Committee Meeting

Description:  The purpose of this agenda item is to review the fourth draft of the budget for the 19-20 school year. I have attached the fourth draft of the budget for your review.

The changes between the third  and fourth draft of the budget include:
1. An update to State Equalization Aid, property taxes, school mental health grant, state special education categorical aid, and the per pupil categorical aid per the final 2019-21 State Budget.
2. An update to Fund 80 based on the Communications Director position changing from .5 to 1.0.
3. Federal grant allocations for Title 1 and Title 2
4. Additions to the expenditure budget for a 1.0 social worker, increase in the Communication Director from .5 to 1.0, increase in the middle school guidance admin assistant by 1 hour/day, increase to the summer school admin assistant by 3 hours/day, increase to the mentor program due to the changes in State requirements, increases to the Capital Projects budget for the Field House scoreboard and the payment to the Village of Waunakee for Ripp Park.
5. The remaining funds ($233,604) were added to the salary line for consideration of pay raises in the fall of 2019. 

In addition, I have attached a document that was shared at the July School Board meeting regarding changes between our local budget planning process and the final version of the 19-21 State Budget.

Please contact Steve Summers at stevesummers@waunakee.k12.wi.us or 849-2000 ext 8012 if you have any questions. Thanks.

Description:  The purpose of this agenda item is to continue the discussion on the financial plan for the Soccer Stadium fundraising project. The Facility Committee will meet again on July 29th to discuss the Soccer Stadium field design process. I have attached information from our referendum bond attorney for your review.

There are two different topics to discuss regarding the financial plan for the Soccer Stadium. The first topic is a determination of the District's financial commitment to this project and how that will be funded. The second topic relates to the portion of the project paid for by the community fundraising group.

As background information, the Warrior Stadium fundraising financial plan included the use of pledges over time. The Warrior Stadium community fundraising group met with the Budget Committee (towards the end of the fundraising campaign), to discuss options for financing the project. The basic options were a private loan or a public loan through the school district. Private loans carry an above market interest rate due to the risks involved. A loan through the school district required an increase in the cash flow borrowing process that was completed in the fall. The loan through the school district was significantly less expensive overall compared to a private loan. The Budget Committee recommended providing a school district loan to the Warrior Stadium community fundraising group instead of a private loan. Attached please find the details on the amount calculated for this loan at the end of the 18-19 fiscal year. This information will be shared with the District's audit firm during the audit process.

The Soccer Stadium community fundraising group would like to discuss this topic on the front end of the fundraising campaign. Administration is not seeking a decision or recommendation at this point. Administration is requesting Budget Committee feedback on this topic. 

Please contact Steve Summers at stevesummers@waunakee.k12.wi.us or 608-849-2000 ext 8012 if you have any questions.

Description:  The purpose of this agenda item is to continue the discussions on a proposal from Rhyme. Rhyme is the vendor that has been selected by the District to provide copy equipment and service throughout the District. The District owns all copy equipment, with the exception of leases in the copy center. All equipment is purchased or leased through State/National purchasing agreements. The District typically purchases between $50-60,000 worth of new equipment annually, in addition to the copy center leases. The total budget for copying equipment and service is $150,000.

The Budget Committee has recommended a trial of the PaperCut Print Management System in one of the school buildings during the 2019-20 school year in order to seek feedback on the product before implementing it district wide. Rhyme is recommending that the District consider replacing equipment in the 19-20 school year instead of PaperCut and purchasing PaperCut in the summer of 2020 from the 20-21 budget if the trial is successful. Rhyme has stated that districts typically only introduce a district wide print management system in the summer. Attached please find an equipment only proposal for your consideration for the 19-20 fiscal year. I am requesting feedback from the committee on this suggestion.

Please contact Steve Summers at stevesummers@waunakee.k12.wi.us or 608-849-2000 ext 8012 if you have any questions.

Description:  The purpose of this agenda item is to discuss accepting credit cards as a payment option for the Infinite Campus student management system. The District currently only accepts automatic withdrawals from a parent/guardian's checking/savings account for the payment of school fees. This decision was made several years ago because Infinite Campus did not have the ability to charge a convenience fee for credit card transactions.

Infinite Campus will be updating their software in August to allow credit card transactions, with a convenience fee option for districts to select. The convenience fee option can either be a flat dollar amount per transaction or percentage based. Administration is recommending adding the credit card payment option with adding a percentage-based convenience fee to cover the costs associated with the credit card processing fee. District families have experienced this credit card processing fee with both the RevTrak and Classmunity electronic payment systems. Classmunity is used for fundraising and RevTrak is used for fees not collected through the student management system. I am seeking feedback from the committee on this topic.

Please contact Steve Summers at stevesummers@waunakee.k12.wi.us or 608-849-2000 ext 8012 if you have any questions.

Description: