WRS Statements

FOR ALL STAFF
The COVID-19 closure has caused some delays in WRS's ability to get 2020 Annual Statement of Benefits mailed out. They plan to send those to employee homes around June 12 and they apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.

The Conclusion & Commencement of Fiscal Years

FOR ALL STAFF
A message from Andy Sarnow: A sincere thank you to all staff for your flexibility and understanding this year as it was indeed interesting with ordering items, tracking time, getting everybody compensated, determining refunds for activities, and wrapping up things that didn’t happen like field trips.

Many planned purchases didn’t occur. We will do whatever we can to both understand our financial picture and prioritize needs and address what’s necessary for our students’ services and programs once everything is figured out at the state level

In the meantime, we’ll all take some deep breaths, grab some sunshine, and be patient while waiting for the political steps that will drive our revenues for the next school year. If you need anything, please don’t hesitate to reach out so we can assist!

Until we cross paths again this fall, please take care.

2019-20 Spending Deadline ~ April 15

 FOR ALL STAFF
As in previous years, the ordering deadline for the large majority of purchases will be Wednesday, April 15. This date was picked not just because of our ability to remember it for tax purposes, but also due to the amount of time it often takes for a purchase to be completed without getting too close to the end of the school year. Our auditors often question whether a purchase should come out of next year’s budget when it’s too close to the end of the year.

There are always exceptions to the rule and we are thankful for what you can all do to assist with this request. Please know that your building administrator may impose an earlier date and the business office respects and appreciates their guidance as there is purpose and meaning by their setting that alternate date.

School Specialty Purchasing

FOR THOSE WHO PURCHASE MATERIALS
The Business Office was recently notified that the discount we receive from School Specialty was discontinued as of January 31, 2020. We’ve since met with our representative and have secured new and improved pricing that is now available.

Feel free to begin ordering again with School Specialty and its family of companies: Abilitations, Childcraft, Frey, Sax Art & Crafts, and Sportime. Please note, the discount pricing calculates once the item is placed in the cart. Also, now there is a $49 order minimum to qualify for free shipping. If you need something specific from School Specialty that is not on the listings, contact our rep for a quote and discounts on freight. In the following weeks, more information will be posted on the Vendor Supply List portion of the the Business Office Intranet web page.

Payroll Update...New to Paychecks

FOR ALL STAFF
For employees who qualify for the Life and AD&D benefits, you will see that they will be listed separately in the benefit section of your pay stubs. In the past, these benefit had been combined, but separating them gives a clearer view of what you are receiving in benefits. These benefits will be included on the last paycheck each montr. The wording will be as follows:

LIFE INS
ACC Death & Dis

Please contact the Payroll Department if you have any questions.

IRS Updates Tax Withholding Estimator for 2020

FOR ALL EMPLOYEES

Here is important information from the American Payroll Association:

“The IRS released a new version of its tax withholding estimator, which states it is ‘designed to help workers target the refund they want by having the right amount of federal income tax taken out of their pay’[IR-2020-09, 1-14-20]. The IRS urges workers to see if they need to adjust their withholding by using the tax withholding estimator to perform a paycheck checkup. The estimator will give users specific recommendations on how to fill out a new W-4 online and provides a PDF with key parts to fill out. The IRS also said that it is important for people with more than one job at a time (including families in which both spouses work) to adjust their withholding to avoid having too little withheld. As in the past, employees can choose to have an employer withhold an additional flat-dollar amount each pay period to cover income they receive from...other sources not subject to withholding.”

The link to the IRS tax withholding estimator is 

https://www.irs.gov/individuals/tax-withholding-estimator.

Please remember, this will give you an estimation based on information you provide. Consult your tax preparer/advisor for more help. The West Bend School District Payroll Department cannot provide guidance on how to complete a 2020 W-4.

NEW Board Policy 671.21 ~ Expense Reimbursements

FOR ALL STAFF
A recently-approved policy by West Bend School Board is an amendment to the expense reimbursement policy. Much of the language in the new policy has been past practice. We would encourage you to review it before traveling or submitting for a reimbursement.

Particularly, a few points of interest: There is no longer a requirement to solicit a vehicle rental. Rather, staff are being asked to carpool when more than one person is attending the same event and needing a legitimate reason when not riding together. Second, thank you if you can pay particular attention to things like meal limits with detailed receipts and sales tax on items that should be exempt. Thank you for your assistance with this new policy and you are encouraged to contact a finance team member if you have questions or concerns.

2020 IRS Mileage Rate Change

FOR ALL STAFF
The IRS has issued a change in the 2020 standard mileage rate to $0.575, down $0.005 from the 2019 rate. When submitting travel reimbursements, please make sure this new rate is reflected. For those of you who have yet to turn in a 2019 travel reimbursement, the $0.58 can still be reflected but the request should be submitted in the very near future. Two forms will be available on the Intranet for the next two weeks with the appropriate mileage rate.

W-2 Supplemental Information

FOR ALL STAFF

W-2 information has been sent out and many of you are well into the fun of completing your 2019 State and Federal taxes. For those of you wishing to have a little extra information regarding your W-2, please click here to supplement what has already been shared. Questions, please reach out to Dani in payroll.

W-2s Coming Soon

FOR ALL STAFF
All W-2s will be available to dowload from Skyward. Please follow the instructions below by the end

of day Friday, January 24. The W-2s will be processed on Saturday, January 25.

1. Log in to Skyward Finance
2. Go to the Employee Information tab
3. Click on W2 Information
4. Go to Options for Receiving My 2019 W2 Electronically
5. Click on the top button that you will receive your W2 electronically and press Save.

REMINDER: Benefit payroll deductions

FOR ALL STAFF WHO WORK 20+ HOURS PER WEEK
As a reminder:

The HR/Business departments have been reviewing the process for benefit payroll deductions. As employees may have experienced, there are times throughout the year such as summer break or school recess periods when payroll has had to increase your benefit deductions to cover your monthly benefit costs. This is a very cumbersome process with room for error and also negatively impacts net pay during these time frames. To minimize this, the HR/Business departments are now annualizing deductions for specific employee groups who receive less than 24 paychecks each year.

This change was implemented effective January 1, 2020. 

Teachers who elect to be paid over 10 months or were hired after the school began, will be on a 20 benefit deduction schedule. All support staff who work 10 months will have 16 benefit deduction schedule. Your benefit deduction schedule is determined by your primary employee group. Employees who are paid on a 12 month basis will not be affected by this change.

Click here to view the benefit payroll deduction schedule for 2020.  Again, this change only impacts when your benefit deductions take place. If you are an hourly employee, you will still be paid based on the payroll schedule for any hours worked.

Below is an example of how a health benefit deduction will be reflected in 2020. All other benefit deductions will be calculated using this same method.

Important Payroll Updates

FOR ALL STAFF

New tax withholding information for 2020…

The IRS has revised the W4 Federal Withholding Tax Exemption form. This is the form that designates how much tax is withheld on your paychecks.

Even if you do not make any updates to your W4 form, the changes the IRS is instituting as part of this new form's release may result in changes to how much is withheld for taxes in your paycheck beginning in January of 2020. The payroll department is required to follow these IRS rules for calculating withholding amounts.

Please note that no action is required of any employee because of this change. Changes to the W4 form can be made at any time during the year if the employee chooses.

If you are considering changes on your W4 for 2020, please visit the IRS website and/or talk with a tax expert. The WBSD payroll department is not able to advise you on how you want to claim your federal withholding.

Below is the link to the new W4 Form with Instructions and the IRS website to look at more information.
https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/fw4.pdf
https://www.irs.gov/individuals/tax-withholding-estimator

Direct Deposit Changes
Any requests to change your desired direct deposit bank account before the end of the year must be received in the payroll office by Friday, December 13. Change requests received after that will not take effect until after January 1, 2020.

Timecards, Time Off Requests, & Timesheets Reminders

FOR ALL STAFF
Important Reminders

• Timesheet submissions must be completed by Monday at 5 p.m. for the previous week. 
• Supervisors are to approve the timesheet every Tuesday by 5 p.m. Our workweeks are Monday–Sunday, so for departments that may need to work on the weekends in the winter, please do not submit before Monday.
• Beginning December 2, any timesheets not submitted on time will not be pushed through by administrative assistants or the Finance Department. Rather, they WILL NOT BE PAID. Staff will still need to submit the missed timesheet and notify their supervisor, who will in-turn notify the payroll department to pay on the next scheduled pay date. 
• If TIME OFF requests are put in after timesheets are built, you need to adjust the time worked by editing it or letting your supervisor know to correct.
• During Christmastime, payday will be on December 26. All timesheets will need to be into payroll by Tuesday, December 17 at 5 p.m. There will be no exceptions due to the holiday and bank closures.

FOR TEACHERS
Time Off Requests for Teachers: Please make sure you are putting requests in TIME OFF first, checking the sub needed box if applicable, and then going on to Frontline.

If requests need to be edited or removed, you must go through the proper procedures (videos and PDFs of the procedure are on the intranet).


FOR SUPPORT STAFF
Please make sure you are putting requests in TIME OFF. If a request needs to be edited or removed, you must go through the proper procedures (videos and PDFs of the procedures are on the intranet). Staff need to be cognizant that if their request is not approved at the time of submitting timesheets, they need to contact their supervisors before submitting.

Reminder: If TIME OFF requests are put in after timesheets are built, you need to adjust the time worked by editing it or letting your supervisor know to correct.

Paychecks will be Delayed if Deadline Not Met

FOR ALL STAFF
Timesheet submissions must be completed by Monday at 5 p.m. for the previous week. Supervisors are to approve the timesheet every Tuesday by 5 p.m. Our workweeks are Monday–Sunday, so for departments that may need to work on the weekends in the winter, please do not submit before Monday.

Beginning December 2, any timesheets not submitted on time will not be pushed through by administrative assistants or the Finance Department. Rather, they WILL NOT BE PAID. Staff will still need to submit the missed timesheet and notify their supervisor, who will in-turn notify the payroll department to pay on the next scheduled pay date. 

Time Off Requests for Teachers: Please make sure you are putting requests in TIME OFF first, checking the sub needed box if applicable, and then going on to Frontline.

If requests need to be edited or removed, you must go through the proper procedures (videos and PDFs of the procedure are on the intranet).

Support Staff: Please make sure you are putting requests in TIME OFF. If a request needs to be edited or removed, you must go through the proper procedures (videos and PDFs of the procedures are on the intranet). Staff need to be cognizant that if their request is not approved at the time of submitting timesheets, they need to contact their supervisors before submitting.

Reminder: If TIME OFF requests are put in after timesheets are built, you need to adjust the time worked by editing it or letting your supervisor know to correct.

Reminder #2: Because November 28 is Thanksgiving Day, paychecks will be issued on November 27. Therefore all timesheets must be into payroll by Tuesday, November 19 at 5 p.m. There will be no exceptions due to the holiday. During Christmastime, payday will be on December 26. All timesheets will need to be into payroll by Tuesday, December 17 at 5 p.m. Again, there will be no exceptions due to the holiday and bank closures.

School Board Approves Budget, Tax Levy, Mill Rate

FOR ALL STAFF
At the West Bend School Board meeting on October 28, the board approved the 2019-2020 school district budget, which includes establishing the tax levy and mill rate.

There was a change in the initial budget presented in September. The total amount to be paid for the Wisconsin Parental Choice Voucher Program is double from the 2018-2019 school year. Therefore, the school board voted on October 28 to approve a change to decrease the amount of debt payoff in 2019-2020 to keep the mill rate the same as last year. Review the meeting recap and a press release on the approved budget.

New Timekeeping System

FOR ALL STAFF
Thank you all for your patience and cooperation as we start the school year with True Time, our new timekeeping system. Time sheets must be submitted weekly by 5:00 p.m. on Monday for the week prior. Time sheets must be submitted by all support staff employees and any teachers who are submitting for extra hours worked that week (i.e. in-house subbing).  Supervisors have until Tuesday at 5:00 p.m. every week to approve time sheets. The payroll schedule was sent in an email and is linked for your convenience.

2019-20 Payroll Schedule