What’s in the next Wichita school district budget? Here’s lowdown on taxes, spending

Wichita Public Schools could see a budget increase of nearly $5 million and a decrease in the mill levy.

USD 259’s Chief Financial Officer Susan Willis presented a budget draft to the school board earlier this week. She said some numbers could change before the next meeting Aug. 8.

The mill levy is expected to decrease by 1.038. Property value and mill are used to calculate the taxes owed on a property. Because property values have increased more than the mill levy has decreased, most property owners still could pay more in taxes than last year — but less than if the mill levy stayed the same.

The increase in property value is one of the reasons for the decrease, Willis said.

“We’re trying to give some of that back to the taxpayers,” Willis said. “They’re going to have to pay more anyway because their assessed valuations are higher. If our mill levy is either the same or higher that just compounds that problem.”

Additional money in the supplemental general fund last year paved the way for the decrease.

“Last year’s cash balance was high enough that we were able to bring that mill levy down a little bit,” Willis said.

School finance is based on the number of students each district educates. Districts get a base amount for every full-time student and then additional funds per student depending on their needs — like transportation, free lunches and more. That same formula is applied to every district in Kansas. This base aid per student goes up 3% every year and is now $4,847 per student.

Combined, the operating funds — general and supplemental general — equal about $521 million.

The bulk of the general fund (which the draft has at $391,779,209) goes toward teacher salaries, and some to special education and at-risk funding. Wichita uses the supplemental general fund (which is a proposed $129,536,885) to pay for utilities, transportation, technology and business services.

Teacher raises were decided in negotiations with the United Teachers of Wichita in the spring — they include a 1.75% salary schedule improvement, 2.75% one-time bonus for eligible employees in December, 2.5% one-time bonus for eligible employees in May, and steps, tracks and longevity for those eligible.

Capital outlay will see a roughly $41 million increase, to $101,283,001. Willis said the extra money will go toward HVAC and air quality, among other possible projects.

“A lot of it [is] kind of those pandemic related projects,” Willis said. “We’re going to get kind of a really good jump start in ‘23 going into ‘24, and we’re trying to get all that work done.”

The special liability fund — used for insurance costs — will increase by more than $2 million.

“We’re trying to put some money ... should we have a hail claim, or something like that happens, also things like cyber liability and those type of things,” Willis said. “We’ve been kind of slowly throwing some money in that particular fund, at some point we’ll probably cap it out. ... It just gives us a little more flexibility as we’re trying to save money in other areas.”

Another big possible increase is the latchkey program, which is growing by more than $2 million. This money will go toward supplies, equipment and to cover increased costs without increasing costs for families.

The latchkey program has received several pandemic-related grants.

A public hearing and vote on the budget are scheduled for Aug 22.