January 7, 2025 at 7:30 AM - Budget Committee Meeting

Description:  The purpose of this agenda item is to discuss the 25-26 budget timeline. As a reminder, we are entering into a new state budget cycle. As such, we will be following the process very closely and will recommend updates to the budget process as necessary. 

Description:  The purpose of this agenda item is to provide a high level overview of 25-26 budget planning. We have updated the attached document to include enrollment by grade/school, including projections for 25-26 sections. This information is critical for open enrollment planning. Administraion seeks feedback from the budget committee on this topic.

Revenue assumptions:
- $325 per student on the revenue limit formula
- 32% special education categorical aid
- Student enrollment per the 5-year average projection (+16)
- Interest earnings decline by $100,000
- Act 12 (personal property tax) revenues remain in place
- New November 2024 operational referendum fully utilized in 25-26

Please note the following expenditure assumptions:
- 4.6% increase in CPI/compensation systems
- Classified staff referendum approved pay increase
- 5% health insurance increase
- 5% increase for utilities and transportation
- Added middle school utilities in 26-27
- $70,000 increase to district property insurance

The following expenditure categories will need to be addressed:
- Termination benefits
- Post-employment benefits
- Health insurance changes/increases
- Maintenance
-Contingency/Fund balance

There will be significant statewide discussions regarding special education categorical aid. Increases in special education categorical aid decrease the required transfer from fund 10. Any decreases in the fund 10 required transfer should be allocated accordingly to the expenditure categories that need to be addressed above. In the event that special education categorical aid is not increased through the state budget, budget reallocation will be necessary for the categories mentioned above. The bottom line is that any new expenditures will likely not be able to be covered through new funding, but will have to be addressed through budget reallocation strategies. Administration will review the high level budget information in detail at the meeting. 
 

Description:  The purpose of this agenda item is to review a draft of open enrollment projection scenarios. The open enrollment attachment calculates capacity based on both our December 2024 enrollment and the 5-year average enrollment that is based off of the September student count. We have good news to share in that our December enrollment is +11 compared to the September enrollment.  Administration will be seeking feedback on the options for determining open enrollment capacity, specifically a discussion on the middle school sections as well as the potential reductions of two K-6 sections.

Description:  We would like to discuss potential budget revisions for 24-25 and establishing an end of the year balance goal. Administration also requests a discussion on taking steps proactively to meet this goal, rather than waiting until next summer. The most recent bond issue rating identified fund balance level as an area of concern. Administration would prefer an end of the year balance goal of $0. In order to get there, Administration would need the ability to allocate expenditures across various accounting funds. One example would be to allocate post-employment benefit expenditures to fund 73 utilizing deposits from prior years. Another example would be to allocate referendum eligible expenses from fund 10 to fund 49. The items that caused a fund balance decline in 23-24 would have the same effect in 24-25. Examples include termination benefits, health insurance changes, health insurance rate increase on July 1, district business insurance, etc. Administration is seeking committee feedback on this topic. One possible motion would be "Motion to establish a fund 10 balance goal for 24-25 of $0 and authorizing administration to allocate expenditures across accounting funds to meet this goal".

Description:  The purpose of this agenda item is to request approval of a 0.5 FTE District Safety & Security Coordinator. Attached please find the job description prepared by HR Director, Brian Grabarski. The estimated costs for the position in 24-25 is $21,000 and $50,000 for 25-26. Please see page 14 of the 25-26 preliminary budget planning document to see an example funding plan for this position. Dr. Brown will speak to this request. Attached please find the job description for the position.

Description:  The purpose of this agenda item is to provide an update on the Data Wrangler implementation. The trial period started on October 1st as the meters and all technical systems have been installed. The district has met with Data Wrangler multiple times. This first meeting led to a secondary meeting that involved NAMI, our HVAC contractor. A number of savings opportunities were reviewed. Administration has implemented some of the opportunities and continues to evaluate others. Attached please find data on the savings that been implemented to date. 

We also were contacted by WPPI (Wisconsin Public Power), which Waunakee Utilities participates in, to complete a grant request for our efforts with energy reductions connected to Data Wrangler. This grant request resulted in a $10,000 payment to the district. In addition, we were contacted about another opportunity through Focus on Energy/Waunakee Utilities to receive incentives for verified electrical bill savings. We can apply for this program by January 15th. This program will result in significant reimbursement based on electrical bill savings. Please see the attached flyer on the program. 

Administration is requesting approval of the 3-year contract extension for the base plan only. The combined savings from the electrical bills and the incentive program will clearly exceed the cost of the Data Wrangler base plan. We are requesting an evaluation of the fund 50/80 option for the program as we approach the 25-26 budget cycle. There are significant opportunities to reallocate expenditures from fund 10 to fund 50 or 80 and 3rd party users based on participation in these programs.  

Description:  Administration would like to discuss an update to the district fund balance policy. Attached please find the current policy. For perspective, the most recent statewide data for fund balance is 26% and 25% in Dane County. 
As an example, the increase in fund 10 expenditures from 23-24 to 24-25 is $4,143,522. A fund balance goal of 15% would require a 24-25 end of the year balance of +$621,528 and a 10% goal would require a positive balance of +$414,352. Administration is recommending changing the 15% minimum to 10%. We will be looking for budget committee feedback on this topic. 

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