Alva Public Schools board approves $12.14 million working budget for 2025–26

The Alva Public Schools Board of Education voted at its regular meeting to adopt a $12,137,363 working budget for the 2025–26 fiscal year following a detailed presentation on revenue estimates and district costs.

District finance staff told the board the working budget relies on conservative state-aid estimates and includes prior-year fund balance. The presenter said the district’s net assessed valuation decreased to $132.9 million from a 2017 high of about $157.7 million, a decline of roughly 15.7 percent since 2017, and noted continuing pressure from inflation on operational costs.

The presenter attributed a significant portion of last year’s above‑expected revenue to one-time items, including roughly $806,000 tied to settled ad valorem tax protests and about $102,000 from higher-than-expected investment earnings. The presenter described those receipts as nonrecurring and said the budget was prepared conservatively to reflect an anticipated decline in general fund collections.

Board discussion focused on the district’s fund balance and the policy that the district maintain a minimum carryover. The presenter said policy CDA requires a fund balance of at least 10 percent of the annual budget; using that metric the minimum reserved carryover is about $1.77 million while the district’s current carryover was reported as approximately $6.80 million. The presenter said the building fund balance was approximately $3.56 million.

The board approved the working budget on a roll-call vote. Board members recorded yea votes on the motion.

The district will file the approved budget and continue monitoring January state-aid recalculations and other revenue developments that could require adjustments.