The Tumwater School District Board of Directors on Monday adopted a resolution giving the district authority to spend the amounts listed in each fund for the 2025'26 fiscal year, while noting the budget assumes the board will later certify an increased levy collection authority approved by the Legislature.
Financial Services Director Kira Acker told the board that adoption of the resolution authorizes staff to spend up to the listed amounts and that any change in actual levy collection will require changes to the budget. "If we go over that amount, then we have to come back and ask for a budget extension," Acker said.
The board's vote formalized the district's expenditure authority after a public hearing earlier in the meeting. The adopted budget includes an assumption that recent state action permitting the district to collect a higher levy will be certified in the fall; Acker said that change increases the district's capacity to collect about $1.7 million compared with what it would have collected without the legislative change and that, if enrollment and expenses align with projections, the district expects to add about $2.3 million to its general fund balance this year.
The nut of the issue is timing and authority: adopting the budget today sets spending limits but does not by itself certify levy collections. "When you're passing this budget, you're passing the ability for us to spend what the budget is listing. So, that's actually you're not authorizing in this budget process the ability to collect our levy funds. That process actually happens in the fall," Acker said. She added that certification typically happens in October or November and that the budget will need to be revised if voters do not approve or the board does not certify the increased levy authority.
During discussion board members asked for clarification about how the recently passed legislative change affects revenue timing. Acker said the district shows the voter-approved levy amount and the newly available levy authority on the levy slide; the district will collect a portion of that increase in the spring because levy collections are calculated on a calendar-year basis. "It's important to understand that this is calendar year. It's not school year. So ... we'll collect ... almost 53% of that new amount in the spring," she said.
Action: A board member moved to adopt "Resolution 12526, 2025'26 budget adoption"; a second was recorded and the board voted in favor by voice. The resolution passed. The board did not record individual roll-call votes in the public transcript.
The board and staff emphasized next steps: staff will return in the fall to certify levy collections and to request any necessary budget extensions if levy certification or actual revenues differ from the budget assumptions.
Community members who want more detail were reminded that the district has posted all budget presentations and the current F-195 document online; Acker said the packet includes technical edits made after the district's technical review with the Educational Service District.
The board recessed earlier in the meeting for a public hearing on the budget and heard no public comments during the allotted time before adopting the resolution.