GREEN BAY, Wis. (WFRV) - Green Bay Area Public School District officials presented a balanced budget to the Board of Education for the 2024-2025 school year after spending months trimming down a projected budget deficit that once stood at $20 million. The district's chief financial officer Angela Roble said a number of factors helped them close that deficit. The state increased its revenue limits for districts. This is the maximum amount of revenue that may be raised through state general aid and property taxes. Roble said this saved the district about $12.5 million. Per pupil funding increased by $325. Although helpful, Roble said that the increases haven't kept up with the inflation that the country has experienced the last few years. Roble said they were able to creatively use ESSER funding to save money in the 2024-2025 budget by spending it on things like summer school. ESSER funding was money provided through the American Rescue Plan Act to help schools during the COVID-19 pandemic. Roble said that the district saved about $2 million in its budget this year through school consolidations and closures. The Board of Education voted to close Tank, Keller, and Wequiock Elementary Schools after last school year. All of these moves added up to the district's balanced budget. Roble said that the district still has challenges with declining enrollment which decreases their state funding because that money is tied to a school's student population. She and other district officials and board members also noted that public schools are losing funding because of students choosing to use vouchers to attend private schools. GBAPS proposed budget includes $311.4 million in its general fund. Neenah sister have betwitching time in most-haunted city in the country The numbers aren't finalized, but district officials project that the mill rate would be $7.65 if the district's capital referendum passes in November. This is 61 cents lower than the current mill rate. A $183 million capital referendum will appear on Green Bay voters' ballots in November. This referendum would help the district complete deferred maintenance projects at several of its schools, enhance safety and security throughout the district, and build a new elementary school on the city's westside which will include students from MacArthur, Kennedy, and Keller Elementaries. For more information on the district's referendum, please click here. If the referendum doesn't pass, district officials project that the mill rate would fall to about $5.30. Although this would provide a temporary relief to taxpayers, district officials said it wouldn't be good in the long term. Local 5 looks at historic paintings under restoration at Old North Church in Boston "We've always been really strategic about keeping the mill rate as steady as possible so it's not a surprise to the taxpayers when they get their tax bill," said Roble. "If it drops significantly, the ask down the road (for future referendums) is going to lead to a significant increase in the mill rate." The district will hold a public hearing on the budget on Oct. 28 and will vote on the budget and the tax levy.