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Council trims school vehicle bond request and discusses JUUL settlement funding for positions
Summary
Councilors amended the school department’s FY26 vehicle request, leaving a $30,000 grant for a passenger van while removing a $240,000 bond item; the council also spent substantial time discussing the use of JUUL settlement funds for school staffing and possible repurposing toward a sports complex.
The Rochester City Council amended the school department’s FY26 capital request and held a detailed discussion about JUUL settlement funds the school has used to finance positions and equipment.
School officials asked the council to fund three vehicles via a $270,000 bond for FY26. During the workshop councilors and staff confirmed that the 12-passenger van would be covered by a $30,000 grant the district had secured; school staff also said they expect to cover a JCB (backhoe) from fiscal-year surplus. Councilor Sullivan moved to change the funding so the CIP would retain only the $30,000 passenger-van appropriation and convert its funding source to a grant, while removing the remaining $240,000 bonded request for the rack-body truck. The motion passed on roll call.
Director of operations and the city manager explained options for delivery and noted procurement lead times: the van vendor indicated they could deliver even before the fiscal year closed. Finance staff said converting the passenger-van line to grant funding and removing the bond for the rack-body truck would not immediately affect the city operating budget’s cap because of other offsets, and that the school district could use FY25 surplus or supplemental appropriation options if a vehicle needed to be purchased and delivered before June 30.
A separate, extended discussion focused on JUUL settlement funds the district is receiving and planning to spend. School staff said Rochester has received $3.875 million to date and is scheduled to receive additional payments, with a total anticipated of $4.6 million. Of that, staff said roughly $2,092,004 was tentatively allocated across five years for positions that had not yet been hired; the school identified two positions already funded by JUUL money this year: a Family and Community Engagement director and a Director of Positive Youth Development (a combined FY26 cost of roughly $309,000 reported in the meeting). School officials said they are reviewing how many of those positions should be covered by operating funds versus settlement funds and exploring whether some settlement money can be redirected to the sports-complex CIP if the school board and settlement counsel approve.
Councilors asked whether settlement funds can supplant existing operating budgets and were told that attorneys for the settlement and school finance staff must approve uses; the city manager and school staff said there are legal and accounting checks before settlement funds can be repurposed. Councilors requested additional documentation and expected the school to return with firmer plans at the board’s upcoming meeting and at the council’s next workshop.
The council instructed staff to update CIP and funding-source entries to reflect the adopted change leaving the $30,000 grant appropriation for the van.
