The Millard Public Schools Board of Education voted to adopt the district's fiscal year 2026 budget and its property tax request after staff reported new revenue detail that led to a larger recommended levy reduction.

The revised budget, which the board approved by roll call, keeps planned district spending at the level presented at the public budget hearing while adjusting revenues. District finance staff recommended a 2.8-cent drop in the district's property tax levy, an increase from the roughly 0.6-cent decrease discussed earlier.

At a budget meeting exchange, Chad (staff member) told the board the change was driven by updated revenue projections and timing differences in state aid. “The expense side of the budget is the same that we went over at the budget hearing. That’s not what has changed. It’s really the revenue side…we were able to put this all together and find a way where we could rely less on our local property taxpayers,” Chad said, describing two items that affected the recommendation: higher-than-expected levy-driven revenues (5.66% actual vs. 5% estimate) and adjustments involving school land funds and state timing.

Board members who spoke during the discussion praised district staff. Board member Kennedy said the administration and finance team produced “a budget that's reasonable” and commended staff for striking a balance between student needs and taxpayer impact. Several board members thanked Chad, Chris Hughes (staff member) and Superintendent Dr. Kim Schwartz for their roles in developing the recommendation.

Votes at the meeting show unanimous board approval. The roll-call votes recorded on the adopted budget and the associated property tax request were in the affirmative; board members who were recorded on the roll call included Schumberger, Kennedy, Poole, Jolley, Curtis and McGill Johnson (ayes as recorded in the meeting transcript).

Why it matters: The change in the revenue outlook and the resulting larger levy reduction signal that staff were able to identify non-property-tax revenue and timing shifts that reduce the district's reliance on local property taxpayers for 2026. Superintendent Dr. Kim Schwartz and board members stressed the importance of multiyear planning, bargaining-unit stability and continued scrutiny of revenue assumptions as next steps.

Background and context: At the board's discussion about the wider state funding picture, Dr. Schwartz also summarized recent school finance commission material showing a statewide shift in the share of school funding coming from the state rather than local levies. He told the board that statewide the state share rose from roughly 34% in 2022–23 to an estimated 53% in the most recent year, and that Millard's own share moved from about 36% to 51% over the same period.

The board also noted next steps: monitoring multiyear bargaining impacts and continuing to report budget-related data to the community.

Ending: Board members described the final vote as the product of a collaborative planning process and thanked finance and superintendent staff for working through updated revenue information to reduce the levy request while preserving the budget's planned expenditures.