Presented here is the 2023-2024 fiscal year budget for the Appleton Area School District. The total budget for all funds less inter-fund transfers is $308,980,627. This budget proposal has been prepared using the best information available at the time.

Budget Highlights for 2023-2024

• After one year of a slight increase in enrollment we again saw a slight decrease this year. We have now seen two years of relatively flat enrollment changes. We continue to have a higher Open Enrollment-In count than Open Enrollment-Out count. This net effect of an additional 892 students has a positive impact through open enrollment funding.
• This year we saw several changes in the state budget and funding for education.
• The increase in the revenue limit to $11,000 per pupil. AASD was at $10,255.56 for the 2022-23 year. This increase impacts the budget in changing the maximum amount of funding we can receive through a combination of State Equalization Aid and local tax levy. The increase in revenue limit authority is nearly $7.2 million.
• Most of the increase in Revenue Limit Authority is being covered by the increase in the per student revenue allocation from the State. We will see an increase of $6,134,924 in Equalized Aid from the State totaling $104,558,048 for the 2023-24 year.
• We will again get a “Declining Enrollment Exemption” as part of the revenue limit formula. These exemptions will help offset the loss of revenue we would have seen due to our declining membership.
• The Tax Levy will see an increase this year due to three factors:
• The increase in Revenue Limit
• The operational referendum passed in November 2022.
• The amount the AASD is required to levy to fund private school vouchers. The voucher amount increased from last year’s total of $ 5,612,335 to $7,461,107. Private school vouchers will make up $.62 of our tax rate, or the equivalent of $62 on $100,000 of property.
• The 2023-24 budget includes the final funds available from the Federal government through the American Rescue Plan (often referred to as ESSER funding). The full amount of this revenue will be spent mitigating the disruption to student learning caused by the pandemic. Some expenses have already been transitioned to the general budget such as summer school programing and iReady.
• The 2023-2024 fiscal year finished with an overall surplus of approximately $4.9 million in the general fund. The increase includes $6 million in reserves for self-funded health care and a negative $1.1 million to general operations fund balance. Increased interest income helped mitigate this loss.
• Compensation increases for 2023-2024 were approved earlier in the year for all staff, at an average increase of 6% for all employee groups. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) for districts was set this year at 8%.
• Fund 80, our Community Service Fund will see only a very slight increase in the tax levy of 1.5% this year to keep pace with the increases in expenses of the Fund. This Fund continues to carry an appropriate positive fund balance at about 22.2%.
• The District issued part of the approved referendum debt in 2022-23 with the first issue of $90 million. After refinancing and annual payments were made the outstanding debt at the end of 2022-2023 total is $75,202,000.
  
  
• The District passed two referendum questions at the last November 2022 election. The 2023-2024 proposed budget includes costs of construction to be completed during this year (Fund 49) and costs for operational referendum related to reduction in K-2 class sizes, beginning STEM programing, and preparing for moving of 6th grades to the middle schools. Future years’ budgets will include additional costs for both passed referendums as construction and moves continue.
• The District’s Equalized Property Value increased by 14.11% from just under $10.5 billion last year to nearly $12 billion this year. This increase means our tax levy will be dispersed across more property value thus driving down the mil rate.
• Our tax rate, often referred to as our mil rate, is projected to decrease from $7.10 per $1,000 of equalized valuation to $6.53 per $1,000 of equalized valuation. 2023-2024 will be the eighth year in a row which the Appleton Area School District has had a decrease in our tax rate.
  
  Budget Booklet 2023-2024