September 3, 2024 at 7:30 AM - Budget Committee Meeting

Description:  The purpose of this agenda item is to discuss the preliminary audit results. Attached please find the Treasurer's Report that was presented at the Annual Meeting. The fund 10 fund balance has declined to 9.7% of the fund 10 expenditures for 2024-25. The budget committee recommended approval of the projected deficit of $338,000 during the budget revision process in June. The two main contributors to that deficit were the diesel fuel surcharge on our transportation contract and the consulting costs. 

During the audit process, there were multiple expenditure categories that impacted the fund balance:
- self-insured dental program ($154,690)
- building/dept carryover balances ($261,000)
- health insurance plan changes ($209,724)
- cash flow borrowing interest ($123,818)
- maxed out ESSER III funding ($138,585)
- food service deficit ($63,839)
- employee termination benefits ($79,263)

Some of the expenditures identified above will need a long-term solution as the costs will likely increase over the next few fiscal years. An example of that is the employee termination benefits. At the October budget committee meeting, we will review what options might exist for the 4th draft of the 2024-25 budget as well as the early stages of planning for the 2025-26 budget. 

Description:  The purpose of this agenda item is to consider moving capital maintenance expenditures and equipment purchases from fund 10 to fund 49. As a reminder, here is the legal authority for our November 2022 referendum: BE IT RESOLVED by the School Board of the Waunakee Community School District, Dane County, Wisconsin that there shall be issued pursuant to Chapter 67 of the Wisconsin Statutes, general obligation bonds in an amount not to exceed $175,000,000 for the public purpose of paying the cost of a school building and facility improvement project consisting of:  construction of a new Heritage Elementary School on district-owned land; construction of a new middle school on district-owned land; removal of the current Heritage Elementary School building; district-wide renovations, capital maintenance and site improvements; and acquisition of furnishings, fixtures and equipment.

We currently have $998,000.03 allocated towards fund 10 instead of fund 49 for capital maintenance projects and equipment. The board could allocate these costs to fund 49 instead which would then increase the fund 10 fund balance to $7,557,902.68 or 11.3%.

Fund 49 currently has interest earnings of $6,512,483 and $5 million of that amount has been allocated to capital maintenance projects approved by the board, leaving a balance of $1,512,483 in funds that are not allocated. Please note we also have two future borrowings that will also earn interest. Also, over $2.5 million in contingency funds are remaining for the Heritage Elementary project. We are looking for feedback from the budget committee on this topic. 

Description:  The purpose of this agenda item is to review a draft of our communication plan and first mailer. The draft communication plan has been attached. We are still developing the first mailer and may have a draft ready by the meeting. We have also attached the start of a community presentation on the operational referendum. 

We are seeking budget committee feedback on the draft communication plan. Each physical mailing has a budgetary impact and we would like to discuss this topic. We also would like to discuss presenting the financial impact of the referendum. This topic will also be discussed at the September board meeting. 

Description:  The purpose of this agenda item is for administration to update the committee on the work that has taken place for the district to participate in the federal direct pay reimbursement program. As a reminder, the school board approved a legal team and an accounting team to assist district administration with this effort.  Attached please find a 2-page high level overview of this program.

The reimbursement for the federal direct pay program would range from 6% up to 30% depending on the program requirements that are met. In order to receive the 30% reimbursement, prevailing wage requirements and apprenticeship requirements must be met. For a $14 million dollar geothermal system, the reimbursement would range from $840,000 to $4.2 million. The cost to meet the 30% threshold is $1,100,000 while the contingency for the middle is at $4.3 million. We are seeking committee feedback on this topic.

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