School District of Waukesha to become debt-free in April, saving taxpayers money after paying off $60M referendum

WAUKESHA, Wis. (CBS 58) -- The School District of Waukesha is set to become debt-free this spring, after paying off a nearly decades-old multi-million-dollar referendum.

Years ago, voters approved a $60 million-dollar referendum.

Instead of issuing bonds on a regular 20-year schedule, then, the district opted for a 10-year amortization plan with flexibility for early repayment.

Darren Clark, the district's chief financial officer, said being debt-free is rare, especially for a school district that's the seventh largest in Wisconsin.

"I was here in the planning of the issuance of the debt and the referendum that was approved, and so this conversation goes back to 2017 and to see the plan we hoped would come to fruition is pretty rewarding," Clark said. "I shared with the board that the top 10 largest school districts in the state, as of December 31st, had a total of 1.8 billion dollars of principal debt outstanding. As of April 1st, we'll be no part of that calculation, just to show what other districts are carrying in terms of debt."

Plus, if calculations perform as expected, taxpayers will see a reduction.

"Heading into this year, we had a drop of about $5.9 million dollars in debt service levy, and then the $2.9 million dollars that we levied for this year will go down to zero," Clark said. "So, if state aid and other variables that go under our levy calculation hold true, the citizens of Waukesha should see a tax reduction."

With the final payment scheduled for April 1st, Clark said officials are already working on next year's budget.

"Really, our due diligence moves to creating the most efficient school district that we can," Clark said.