School Budget Meeting Rescheduled

The Whitefish Bay School Board's annual budget meeting will be held a week earlier than its originally-scheduled date, due to a conflict with the Rosh Hashanah holiday.

The School Board originally scheduled the annual budget meeting for Sept. 4, which is the first night of Rosh Hoshanah. After several discussions, the board decided to hold a special meeting a week earlier on Aug. 29 that has the same powers of the annual budget meeting. 

This means that Whitefish Bay residents will be asked to approve the 2013-2014 budget during the special meeting at 7 p.m. Aug. 29 in the Whitefish Bay High School auditorium.

"To ensure all community members were able to attend, the board decided the most community-friendly solution was to hold a special meeting with the powers of an annual meeting," said Laura Myrah, the district's interim superintendent.

Due to state law, the board is not allowed to officially reschedule the annual meeting, so the Sept. 4 meeting will still be held – but the only item on the agenda will be scheduling the date of next year's annual meeting.

At the Aug. 29 meeting, residents will be asked to approve a tax levy that will increase 4.47 percent from last year. Shawn Yde, the district's director of business services, said it's likely the tax levy will decrease once state aid allocations are announced on Oct. 15.

As in past years, Yde used a conservative state aid number during the budgeting process, predicting a $100,000 increase from last year's allocation. If more state aid comes to Whitefish Bay – which is likely – than the additional money will be used to reduce the tax levy.

The equalized tax rate is $11.35 per $1,000 of assessed value, which is an increase from last year's tax rate of $11.05 per $1,000 of assessed value. 

The actual tax impact on a $400,000 home is not available at this time, as the district is waiting until next month to get a more up-to-date assessed value of the village.

The district’s annual budget publication, which includes more financial details, will be mailed out to Whitefish Bay residents next week.