Appleton Area School District approves amended budget

APPLETON, Wis. (WISS) – The Appleton Area School District Board of Education approved the 2025/2026 district budget during its meeting on Monday night.

The amended budget features a $6.09 mill rate, up from the proposed $6.08.

One of the district’s newest board members, Oliver Zornow, introduced the amendment to add one cent to the mill rate and increase Fund 39 by $150,000 to pre-pay additional debt and lower future costs. 

“ It is a proven strategy that the district has used for decades to lower future costs by prepaying debt and to stabilize the tax rate for our taxpayers. So I’d like to propose the amendment of $150,000 of additional levy in Fund 39,” Zornow said.

Tax Levy

That amendment was the only one of the four amendments introduced by Zornow to be approved. The total Tax Levy rate for the 2025/26 budget will now be $82,171,571. 

Before the board meeting, the district held a budget hearing, during which Executive Director of Finance Holly Burr said the $6.08 mill rate is the lowest the AASD has had in 40 years.

“ DPI (Department of Public Instruction) only tracks these back to 1984, but 2025 will be the lowest rate since they have been tracking these,” Burr said. “So our current equalized value, property value in the district is currently just shy of 13.5 billion, and our proposed levy is 82 million, which puts our calculated mill rate at $6 and 8 cents. This is per $1,000 of equalized value.”

While AASD is receiving a slight increase in state funding, the tax levy itself, determined by a complex equation including state requirements, revenue limits, and equalized aid, will increase by over $6 million in 2025/26.

The Appleton Area School District board voted four to one to approve the amended budget. The only dissenting vote was Oliver Zornow, who wanted to include in the budget several amendments to fund programs that would ensure incoming kindergarten students are ready for the school environment.