Wisconsin Heights and Sauk Prairie School Districts see mill rate drop

The Sauk Prairie and Wisconsin Heights school districts set next year’s levies at their meetings last week. Here’s a breakdown:   Wisconsin Heights   The levy will be $10,491,000, producing a mill rate of $10.75, a 6.5 percent drop—or 75 cents. After reaching a peak of $12.06 in 2015-16, the mill rate has steadily dropped. A person’s share of taxes is calculated by multiplying the mill rate by every $100,000’s worth of value of their property. Of the school district’s $14,758,000 budget, just over $9 million goes towards salary and benefits. Athletics cost $263,000 and transportation $770,000. Utilities—less this year due to the remodel and new addition—will come in at  $433,000. Special ed alone costs $2.1 million. And paper costs total $13,700. The school district received $1.7 million in state aid this year. The district has 763 students.   Sauk Prairie   The levy will be $23,757,000, producing a mill rate of $8.50. After reaching a peak of $10.49 in 2014-15, it has steadily dropped. The mill rate dropped 29 cents from last year. Of the school district’s $34 million budget, just over $7 million went to elementary curriculum; $6.6 million to regular curriculum; $737,000 to vocational curriculum; and $907,000 to physical curriculum. Business administration—custodial, maintenance, transportation and utilities—costs $6.2 million. The school district received $15.2 million in state aid. There are 2,750 students.