OCONTO FALLS – Oconto Falls School District’s proposed $13.6 million tax levy for budget year 2025-26 is expected to be about 9% higher than the previous year, but the amount individual property owners will pay varies by the property, district administrators said.
The levy includes $11.1 million for the school district’s general fund and $1.9 million for the referendum debt service fund, said Kim Sinclair, the district’s business manager.
At its budget hearing held last month, the school board approved a millage rate of about $7.30, representing a 2.12% increase from a year ago. The actual amount is subject to the assessment rolls being sent to the state to determine the equalized values and levy limits.
“The final equalized values will come out Oct. 15. The statewide average is 8%,” Sinclair said.
“The last couple of years, Oconto County and our municipalities had double-digit growth in our property values. That always impacts you the year after,” Sinclair continued.
“Our municipalities became more property rich, bringing state aid (down), so there’s a lot of things going to make our tax levy go up.”
School District Superintendent Stuart Russ said an April 2021 referendum brought a levy increase that has contributed to the district’s success.
“We have a lot to celebrate at the school district,” he said, noting the new middle school opening this fall and other capital improvement projects have made a difference along with a renewed focus on professional development and staff retention.
“We’ve done a great job of putting us in a position of rewarding staff members and encouraging people to get professional development,” he said.
While the exact amount will vary for each person, the average tax impact per $100,000 is expected to be $730 in 2025-26. This is up from $714 for 2024-25, according to information presented at the annual meeting.
“We’re projecting a balanced budget for our general fund this year and for the next two. The district is in a very good financial place to do this. We are getting no new state aid. We’ve been working to keep that tax levy very stable. We’ve done a $12.5 million tax levy for the last couple of years. This year, it came in $13.6 million,” Sinclair said.
The levy is expected to rise with the increase in property values.
While 10 municipalities feed into Oconto Falls School District, the tax levy isn’t divided equally among the 10 areas. The school district expects to collect $2.03 million from property owners in the city of Oconto Falls, up 8.3% from about $1.88 million a year ago, while it expects to collect $2.78 million from property owners in Abrams, up 19% from a year ago.
Abrams leads the district in percentage increase of assessed valuations from a year ago, followed by a 15% increase in Pensaukee, a 13% increase in Little Suamico, 8.3% in City of Oconto Falls, 7.8% in Stiles, 5.5% in Brazeau, 4.9% in Morgan, 2.2% in Oconto Falls, 1.44% in Spruce and 1.28% in Chase, according to the school district.
Besides property taxes, the school district receives state funds for general education, special education and literacy curriculum and professional development. “The biennial state budget determines how much money we’re going to get,” Sinclair said.
The budget provided a boost to special education, and the school district expects to receive about $361,000 in categorical aid related to special ed, but the increase is limited and expected to run out, Sinclair said. State aid for generation education, however, isn’t expected to cover increased expenses.
“Any of these increases the taxpayers will have to pick up because the state did not,” Sinclair said.
“Every school district is going to be dealing with this.”
The school district’s general fund revenue is expected to increase to $28.3 million from $27.7 million in 2024-25, with about $12.87 million in state equalization aid, down from $13.9 million in 2024-25, according to information presented at the budget hearing, which was attended by Board President Clint Gardebrecht, Vice President Bryan Baumler, Treasurer Ginny O’Harrow, Clerk Sarah Schindel, board Chad Earley, Carrie Hill and Emily Trudell, District Superintendent Stuart Russ and Business Manager Kim Sinclair.
An increase in general fund property-tax revenue to $11.17 million, from $9.4 million a year ago, is expected to make up for the decline in state aid. Per pupil categorical aid is expected to be about the same at $1.28 million, while grant revenue is expected to increase to $610,554 from $587,000.
The district also expects to receive $464,220 in Student Achievement Guarantee in Education (SAGE) and Achievement Gap Reduction (AGR) aid, $228,748 in other aid, $200,000 in SBS Medicaid, $143,350 in transportation aid and $60,000 in interest income from investments.
The school district’s gross total expenditures are expected to total $44.1 million, down from $58.6 million a year ago when the referendum project was in full swing, according to information from the budget hearing.
When interfund transfers are subtracted from the total, the district’s net total expenditures are expected to be about $40.7 million. In capital project expenditures in 2025-26, the school district is expected to spend about $6.1 million, Sinclair said.
At the annual meeting held before the budget hearing, Board Treasurer Ginny O’Harrow gave the treasurer’s report. The school district had $9.5 million in assets as of June 30, including $5.1 million in investments, $814,000 in cash and $3.5 million in accounts receivables. The total was about even with last year’s $9.8 million in assets. Its liabilities of $5.6 million included $2 million in temporary notes payable and $1 million in accrued accounts payable and about $700,000 in accrued benefits payable.
The balance, or assets minus liabilities, totaled $3.9 million, an increase of $196,500 from the prior year.
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