Your tax bill may shift slightly depending on where you live in Door and Kewaunee counties. Area school districts are primarily funded by general state aid and property taxes paid by residents and business owners. Earlier this month, school districts learned the exact amount they will receive from the state as a part of the 2023-2024 October 15 Certification of General Aid. Of the over 420 school districts in the state, 247 will see an increase in aid compared to what they saw a year ago. That figure includes Algoma (16.42 percent), Sturgeon Bay (15.59 percent), and Luxemburg-Casco (7.48 percent). More than 140 school districts saw a dip in general state aid, including Southern Door (15.41 percent), Gibraltar (14.99 percent), Sevastopol (14.99 percent), and Kewaunee (3.29 percent). Washington Island was one of six districts that saw no change to their state aid. Districts have to approve the final tax levy as a part of their 2023-2024 budget partly based on these figures. Sturgeon Bay School District Administrator Dan Tjernagel says it is always an interesting time for those who crunch the numbers.

Sturgeon Bay School District officials discussed its financials as part of their regular board meeting on Wednesday. The district saw an approximately $1,200 decrease to the levy compared to last year, equating to a mill rate of $7.55. The board approved the December 2023 Tax Levy, used for the calendar year of 2024. You can see the general state aid numbers for each school district below.

School: State Aid This Year/State Aid Last Year/Change/Percentage Change 

Algoma:  5,581,013/4,794,041/786,972/16.42

Kewaunee: 6,796,133/7,027,244/-231,11/-3.29

Luxemburg-Casco: 13,198,783/12,280,031/918,752/7.48

Southern Door County: 1,591,184/1,881,133/-289,949/-15.41

Sturgeon Bay: 5,077,117/4,392,351/684,766/15.59

Washington Island: 0/0/0/0.00

Gibraltar Area: 1,350/1,588/-238/-14.99

Sevastopol: 4,037/4,749/-712/-14.99