The budget work for the 2010-11 school year began a week after the approval of this year’s budget.  Although final revenue numbers may continue to change all the way through October of 2010, the decisions about proposed cuts needs to be made much sooner.  Budget planning is an ongoing process.  If the two High Schools were to be combined, the decision would need to be made this month because of the impact on Athletics.  Many other budget decisions would need to be made this month as well. Other cuts involving teacher contracts would need to happen by February or April.  Any potential concessions on the part of the local Teachers Union may be taken into account in budget planning, however the contracts are still under negotiation.  The School Board is looking carefully at all options with input from the Citizen Financial Advisory Committee, or CFAC.  CFAC is a committee made up of volunteer West Bend citizens, many of who have business or financial backgrounds. 

The West Bend School Board is faced with having to find about $1.9-2 million in cuts and savings for the 2010-11 school year.  This is due to the State mandated revenue caps  that are in place and has less to do with the recent decreases in State Aid dollars.  The revenue caps are based on a set increase in per student spending, which was at $200 per student this year and is anticipated to be the same for the 2010-11 budget year.  The $200 figure is significantly less than previous years, and this is due to shortfalls at the state level.  The decrease in State Aid causes a corresponding increase in property taxes to make up the difference in revenue, however the State imposed (and newly reduced) revenue caps are  the primary cause of the cuts that are needed now.

Expenditures for the current year’s budget are approximately $66.5 million.  According to Bob Borch, who is filling in as temporary Administrator of Finances for the District, expenditures for 2010-11 would need to be approximately $69.4 million in order to maintain the current level of programming.  This would be an increase of 4.3% to this year’s budget.  Inflationary cost increases are the reason behind the  increase in expenditures for the same level of programming.  The revenue caps however limit the projected revenue to an estimated $67.5 million or an increase of 1.5%. The estimated figure of about $1.9 million in cuts stems from the shortfall between the actual cost increase of the status quo and the allowed increase due to the State mandated caps. The figures are only an estimate and many parts of the equation may change.  For example, the current numbers are based on a stable student enrollment number and the revenue cap figure being unchanged.

The West Bend School District has had to find cuts and savings in the budget every year for the last 15 years due to the revenue caps.  In past years, the revenue caps were set higher so the cuts were not as large.  The District often made cuts in areas that were not as visible, such as deferred maintenance.  They were also able to find savings in areas such as health benefits.  In addition, many cuts to programs have already been made over the years.  The District may still be able to find a few areas for cuts that have little or no impact on programming, however each year the likelihood of finding these kinds of cuts in any kind of large dollar amounts decreases. Administrator salaries have been frozen and it is possible yet to freeze or minimize teacher pay increases, depending on what happens in union negotiations (the Board cannot just demand a pay freeze).  Those are all temporary fixes and cannot be maintained year after year.  The District is now at the point where most of the major cuts made will hurt and affect students and programming.  See here  for the list of potential cuts that are on the table.  It is important to realize that any cuts that are not chosen now will need to be looked at again in future years. 

Other school districts are also going through the process of finding areas to cut; it is hard on them as well, however it is especially painful for West Bend since our baseline spending is so low.  Some schools have been able to maintain programming and prevent cuts by increasing their revenue through operations referenda.  This is the only way schools are able increase their budget beyond the revenue caps for their regular yearly budget.  The next three years are anticipated to be very difficult for our school district.  It is important for the community to stay up to date on the budget process and the reasoning behind decisions being made.