Balanced budget comes with concerns for the future

The Grafton School District is operating under a preliminary $31 million 2026-27 budget approved by the School Board recently — but Director of Business Services Topher Adams warned the School Board that balancing the budget may get significantly more difficult in the coming years.

Adams told the School Board on June 22 that if the state doesn’t increase funding for special education, retain or increase the per-student revenue limit and drop its current freeze on property tax relief “we would be challenged to protect taxpayers.”

“This year’s budget is in good shape,” Adams said. “There are budget issues to consider moving forward.”

Adams told the board that the current $325 per pupil increase in spending allowed by the state, which doesn’t offset the cost of inflation, may go away in the future depending on the makeup of the Legislature and who is in the governor’s office.

Many districts have opted to go to referendum to help cover operating expenses, Adams said, something Grafton has avoided.

But, he noted, that also means the district has less money to spend on each student.

The $325 per-pupil increase in spending is helping Grafton this year, Adams said, noting the district enrollment will grow by 42 students next year. That alone will bring in an additional almost $500,000 in aid.

“That certainly helps,” he said.

This is the fifth consecutive year that the district’s enrollment has increased, Adams said. Projections are that the district will have 2,115 students for the coming year.

The district is also popular with families opting for open enrollment, he said.

“We have more kids enrolling in than enrolling out,” Adams said.

As a matter of fact, he said, the district is capping the number of students who can opt into the district to avoid having to add classes.

“We want to give priority to resident enrollees, not create extra classrooms,” he said.

The number of students accepted into Grafton schools is declining, which in turn is causing a decrease in revenue from $731,000 last year to $634,000 this year, Adams said.

The preliminary 2026-27 operating budget of $31 million, which reflects an increase of $1.2 million, or 4.1%, was approved unanimously.

Adams told the board that the budget included a 10% increase in health insurance, as well as an increase of 5% to 6% for gas, electric and sewer costs and 3% for water.

Salaries alone account for 44% of the budget, he said, and benefits for 19%.

“It’s certainly good news at this point,” board President Steve Nauta said.

Adams noted that the  district will need to transfer a “significant amount” from its general fund to cover a shortfall in state aid and federal funding for special education, noting that the district was told it would receive  aid to cover 45% of the cost of special education but the actual number came in at 40%.

Adams told the School Board that a measure that would have increased the amount of special education funding was not approved by the Senate, and while there have been some calls to bring lawmakers back to Madison to address the issue, that has not happened.

  In the meantime, the district will continue to operate under the preliminary budget.

Adams noted that the district will get its first equalization aid estimate from the state in July, and the budget will continue to be tweaked after that.

The district’s annual meeting and budget hearing will be held in September, with final budget approval and certification of the tax levy expected in October.