(Image provided by Appleton Area School District)
Appleton’s school board is working on a budget that includes some uncertainty because of the pandemic.
District Chief Financial Officer Greg Hartjes says they have $7 million in costs that are connected to the pandemic. He says they had to get more technology, and hire more staff so they can have smaller class sizes, once students can return to classrooms.
Hartjes says they currently have a $2 million shortfall, after accounting for money the district saved last year and federal stimulus funding. He hopes they can recoup that during the year, and if not, they’ll have to dip into their reserve fund.
The proposed budget has a tax levy of nearly $72 million. The property tax rate is down nearly three percent, to $8.08 per thousand dollars of value. That’s the lowest in 12 years.
Property owners would pay $808 per $100,000 of value, for the school portion of their taxes.
