Budget committee approves amended proposed budget, sets permanent tax rate and $6.5M bond levy

The Newberg Dundee Public Schools budget committee approved an amended proposed budget and set a permanent property tax rate of $4.6616 per $1,000 and a $6,500,000 debt-service levy during a budget committee meeting.

The budget committee’s action forwards the amended proposed budget to the full school board for adoption and establishes the tax and bond levies the district will ask local taxing authorities to collect. The committee spent the meeting reviewing assumptions behind the proposal, debating trade-offs such as furlough days versus increased class sizes, and requesting more detail on utilities, substitute staffing and transportation costs.

District staff presented the budget assumptions and proposed changes. District staff member Dave Parker summarized key assumptions used to build the proposed budget, including an assumed ending fund balance of about $850,000 (roughly 1 percent of the budget) and a target of about $1 million by the close of the 2025–26 fiscal year. Parker said the budget includes federal and state assumptions, an anticipated 4.5% contract increase in the transportation contract and that the district will apply to pull indirect costs from grants into the general fund this fall.

Parker noted several cost pressures built into the proposal: projected utility increases of roughly 8%–12% from providers; an estimated 17%–20% increase in general liability and property insurance that adds about $700,000 annually; and…