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Onalaska Board of Education members got their first look at next year’s budget Monday night knowing there is very little they can do about it.

So far, they know most of the budget is spent on staff salaries and benefits; the increase in revenues will not be as large as the increase in expenses; the mill rate will probably be about the same as this year; at least one mandated program will cut into money for regular programs; and there will have to be another referendum in two years.

Budget discussions started with district staff during the winter months and will not be completed until October when it is finally set.

“It is a year-round process with some spillover on either end,” district finance director Larry Dalton noted.

The proposed Onalaska school budget for the 2008-09 school year is $27,783,623, up about $900,000 from this year. The local levy would be $12,541,618, up about $990,000, and the tax rate would be set at 7.62 per $1,000 of assessed valuation, down .02 from this year.

The levy numbers are “very, very foggy,” Dalton said, because the district has to wait until fall to learn what the state will contribute and will allow the district to levy.

School Superintendent John Burnett said the budget allowed a zero-percent increase for sites, meaning each principal and department head had, basically, the same amount of money they had last year.

“We won’t see any increases, but we won’t have to talk about cutting programs or staff,” Burnett said.

Onalaska’s principals are allowed to spend their allocation based on their building’s needs.

“We take it to the staff, say how much we have to spend and then decide how it will be divided,” Irving Pertzsch Elementary Principal Jac Lyga explained.

Burnett said the budget reflects the February 2006 referendum in which voters gave the district permission to exceed state-imposed levy limits by $500,000 per year for five years.

“We are in the third year of that and we are only a year or so away from engaging the community in a conversation about another referendum,” Burnett said.

“Unless there is a major change in funding, we will need a referendum for 2010-11 if we are to maintain programs and staffing in our schools.”

About 80 percent of Onalaska’s budget is for staff. That cost is projected to go up 2.1 percent. Benefits are expected to jump more than 10 percent.

State-mandated special education programs are cutting into the general tax levy.

“We are not reimbursed nearly enough for the costs of running special ed,” Burnett said, noting the importance of special education. “Staffing costs are coming from the general fund.”

The little discretionary money available to schools will go into technology. “Smart Board” technology is requested for classrooms; many Onalaska teachers hope to get the devices for their classrooms and have requested them in the next school year’s budget.

“What happens is one teacher gets one and loves it and the love spreads,” Lyga said.

Action on the budget was saved for future sessions except for a couple facility items that needed approval now so they would be ready for school in the fall. That included lockers for Northern Hills and Irving Pertzsch elementary schools, material for middle school science and two vehicles. Cost for the items is $131,000.

In addition, board members created two new positions, a full-time special education teacher for Northern Hills and a full-time district instructional technology coordinator.

The school board plans at least one more session on its raw budget and could have a third meeting if possible. The document will go to a public hearing Aug. 25 and will get final approval Oct. 27.