School Board wants to keep budget in line with last year

Mark Mahoney Wausa Gazette WAUSA – The 2022-23 budget season is here for Wausa Public Schools.

The school district’s board of education will hold two public hearings before its regular monthly meeting at 8 p.m. Sept. 19.

A budget hearing will be held at 7:55 p.m., followed by a special hearing at 7:58 p.m. to set the final property tax request.

Wausa’s proposed 2022-23 operating budget is $5.481 million, decreasing slightly from its 202122 operating budget of $5.482 million.

The school district’s proposed property tax request for 2022-23 is for $3.6 million. Its property tax request was $3.5 million for 2021-22.

“We’ll move our levy from 95 cents last year – .950075 – to .961445, so basically a little over a penny,” Wausa Superintendent Brad Hoesing said.

“Our penny in Wausa – because we have about $374 million in assessed (property) valuations in our district – our penny is worth about $37,000,” he said.

He noted the school district budgets for funds for maintenance and supplies, curriculum instructional supplies and special education needs, among other items.

“There’s a lot in it,” Hoesing said. School board members have discussed capital improvement projects for the district, such as replacing Wausa's football field lights for about $50,000.

"The football field lights are really bad," Hoes ing said. “They’ve known that for a while. That had to be on the budget this year.”

He noted portions of the Wausa school building – which underwent a major construction and renovation project that was completed in 2020 – needs fire safety improvements.

"They have to wall o two stairwells in the two parts of the old building that are left – the north wing by the band room and the science rooms, and then in the elementary, there’s a stairwell that goes outside,” Hoesing said.

“We’ve got to basically put a wall and some fire doors there because the (state) fire code says they have to be isolated,” he said. “It’s not a big project, but we just have to make sure we budget for it.”

The school district will hold its Sept. 19 public hearings on its own because it does not have to participate in one where multiple political subdivisions have to meet at the same place.

Legislative Bill 644 was passed by the Nebras- ka Legislature in 2021 and took eect in Septem ber as the Property Tax Request Act.

The policy behind the law is commonly known as “Truth in Taxation,” and has been adopted in various forms across the United States to raise public awareness and participation before local governments vote on property tax increases.

This law requires political subdivisions – counties, cities, school districts and community colleges – to inform taxpayers by mail if the subdivisions seek to raise their annual property tax askings by more than 2 percent, plus real growth.

Political subdivisions proposing a tax increase greater than 2 percent, plus real growth, will participate and take public comments during joint public hearings in each county.

However, Wausa does not have to attend Knox County’s joint public hearing.

“It kind of depends on what we get for assessed valuations and the way our budget worked,” Hoesing said. “The assessed valuations changed and our budget fit within the allowable growth, so we don’t have to attend the meeting.”