Greater Clark County Schools holds public hearing on 2026 budget; board approves facilities, construction and other contracts

The Greater Clark County Schools Board of Trustees opened a public hearing Sept. 16 on the district's proposed 2026 corporate budget and then, during its regular meeting, approved an amendment to its facilities management contract, a guaranteed-maximum-price construction contract for phase 1 of the Founders Point elementary project, multiple consent items and other routine actions.

The hearing allowed the public to comment after a presentation from the district finance officer on the budget, which the district advertised with a $2 tax rate to protect against assessed-value volatility and potential effects of Senate Bill 1. Chief Financial Officer Huebinger told the board the district had advertised a $2 rate “to accommodate the fluctuating assessed value and the Senate bill 1 that's coming our way” and said current assessed value (AV) figures published since the budget was drafted showed an increase of just over 6 percent from last year; the budget estimate used an 8 percent AV increase.

Huebinger said the advertised $2 rate is a protective measure and explained debt-service and operations details that affect the tax rate. She said a district debt-service line item appeared to rise about 150 percent because reserves are included there now but will be reduced to lower the effective rate (noting a past rate of $0.69 and projecting it near $0.75 after adjustments). She also said the operations fund is limited to a 4 percent increase and that circuit breaker tax caps will reduce expected revenues: the district is projecting $21,000,000 in operations levy revenue but may realize closer to $12,000,000 because of caps.

The hearing and budget presentation also included discussion of how Senate Bill 1 could progressively reduce the district's revenue picture through 2028–29, prompting district leaders to plan conservatively. The public hearing concluded with the board closing the hearing with no public speakers recorded following the presentation.

In a separate financial report required by state law, Huebinger…