Columbia County School Board adopts amended agenda, approves personnel items and moves to advertise revised Live Local Act resolution

The Columbia County School Board adopted an amended agenda, approved personnel items and an addendum, and voted to repeal Resolution 2025‑01 so the board’s attorney can advertise a revised Resolution 2025‑02 related to the Live Local Act.

Finance Director Lindsay Laxton presented the board’s March 2025 financial report and the budget amendments that are included on the consent agenda. Laxton said the district’s unassigned fund balance stood at 4.58 percent through March, down from 5.37 percent a year earlier, and that property tax collections were running slightly ahead of last year at 84.57 percent compared with 83.9 percent. “Our unassigned is down, of course, due to particularly the raises,” Laxton said. She also reported rolling 12‑month collections for the half‑cent sales tax of about $7,578,000 and noted that a large portion of that goes to debt service each year.

Laxton reviewed operating costs: electricity expenditures were down 1.1 percent from the prior year and favorable to budget by 13.2 percent; diesel fuel was down about 16.4 percent from the prior year but over budget by 3 percent. “We’re at $2.95 per gallon right now,” she said, adding she would continue to monitor diesel costs.

Procedural actions followed the presentation. The board Chair called for and adopted the agenda after Superintendent (identified in the transcript as Mr. Cooley) asked to pull agenda item 7C to allow more time to review any potential costs. The board later approved personnel items and the addendum on a motion and second; the transcript records voice votes with the Chair calling the ayes and saying “the ayes have it.”

On a separate motion the board voted to repeal the April 8 approval of “School Board of Columbia County Resolution 2025‑01 Lehi Local Act” so that the item can be renumbered and advertised as “Resolution 2025‑02 Live Local Act.” The board’s attorney explained the prior resolution was intended to opt the district out of statutory developer tax exemptions and that the resolution must be advertised before the board can adopt it; the attorney said the revised resolution will be advertised and return to the board in May for adoption.

The consent agenda was approved with the deletion of item 7C and inclusion of the addendum. The transcript records the Chair announcing the ayes and that the motion carried.

Votes at a glance - Adopt agenda with correction (item 7C pulled): voice vote; outcome recorded as approved (Chair: “the ayes have it”). - Approve personnel items and addendum: motion, second, voice vote; outcome recorded as approved. - Repeal Resolution 2025‑01 and advertise revised Resolution 2025‑02 (Live Local Act): motion, second, voice vote; outcome recorded as approved. The board’s attorney said the revised resolution will be advertised and return to the board for adoption in May.

Background: Laxton said the financial report incorporates FEFP calculations recently released to the district and that the unassigned fund balance decline reflects raises prorated through March. The board did not adopt any budget amendments at the meeting beyond those already prepared and placed on the consent agenda to be considered as part of consent.