Update on the Colby School District from Dr. Patrick Galligan

With the start of any school year, there are certain things that occur which we might refer to as “annual traditions”. Everyone’s first day school pictures, fall sporting events that we enjoy attending, the high school homecoming week celebrations, and the Annual Meeting our school district conducts to distribute information about the school district levy/mill rate.

As in all years, the numbers we present at the Annual Meeting are an estimate, based upon a number the Department of Public Instruction supplies us with in July, along with a series of estimates we work on for costs, property valuations, and other items. The July 1 estimate is an important number for us to use in this process, but the really important number we get from the state of Wisconsin is the actual budget number that is sent to all districts on October 15th. Between July and October, the numbers we release will always change until the October School Board meeting, where the Board takes final action on the yearly budget.

This year, at the Colby School District Annual Meeting, based upon the numbers we had to work with at the time, we estimated that the total levy would be $4.986 million, which would have been an increase of 23.6% over last year. As we have continued to analyze our budget numbers, we have determined a couple of factors that should move us in a positive direction from these initial estimates we released in September.

First, in an effort to reduce potential tariff impacts, the district purchased computers prior to the end of the fiscal year, and that total was not included in our estimated expenditures in September. Second, the referendum financing finalized better than estimated. The final debt structure and actual borrowing rates allowed the district to make a 2024-25 payment on the debt, reducing the amount of principal borrowed long term and avoiding over $3.4M in interest expense. Both of these items put the district in a better overall financial position and are also treated favorably in the aid calculation pending release by DPI in October. When these two factors are combined in our new calculations, it is now estimated that we will bring in $1 million in additional aid from the state of Wisconsin, which will reduce the district’s estimated levy for the 2025-2026 school year budget. To say it another way - in more direct terms - while at the Annual Meeting we estimated a potential tax increase of over 23%, we are now confident the increase will likely be in the single digits. Additionally, the mill rate, instead of projecting to increase, will likely stay the same, or even decrease, resulting in reduced costs for taxpayers. At this point I feel compelled to point out that some of the tax increases individuals might experience are due to revaluations of property, and this is not something that the district can control in any fashion. I would also like to point out something we specifically talked about during last year’s referendum campaign to show that we are upholding our pledges to district residents. During the referendum campaign, we discussed that the estimated yearly impacts of the referendum would be $0.65 per $1,000 (or $65.00 on a $100,000 home). Then, after voters passed our referendum questions, when we locked in the referendum financing, we adjusted the estimates to $0.41 per $1,000 (or $41.00 per $100,000). With the current estimates we are using, and again, individual results will vary, the impact of the referendum on Colby taxpayers is lower than either of these previous estimates.

We will continue to monitor these estimates as we work on implementing the referendum goals of handling maintenance of our district buildings, modernizing the physical infrastructure and teaching tools provided in district classrooms, and providing more flexibility of classroom spaces throughout the district through the creation of an addition to Colby Elementary. We are currently finalizing our bid packages for construction related to the referendum this month, and if all goes well, you may see some construction happening behind the elementary school prior to the end of 2025.

The final budget for the 2025-2026 school year will be discussed at the October Colby School Board Regular meeting on Monday, October 27, 2025, starting at 6:30 p.m. The meeting is open to the public, and you can enter the school that night using the Theater entrance of the building if you wish to attend.

G UEST

COLBY SCHOOL DISTRICT