Orono board reviews preliminary FY24–25 results, approves certification of maximum payable-2026 levy

The Orono Public School District Board of Education on Thursday reviewed preliminary fiscal-year 2024–25 financial results, discussed enrollment and budget pressures, and voted to direct the district clerk to certify the maximum available property tax levy amount to the Hennepin County auditor for payable 2026.

Director of business services Nick Tainter presented the preliminary general-fund results and said the audit is still underway, so figures remain preliminary. He reported a preliminary general-fund surplus of about $200,000 — down from a surplus of more than $900,000 the previous year — and said salaries and employee benefits make up about 83% of the district’s total expenditures.

Tainter told the board that general-fund revenues grew by about 2.63% while expenditures grew by about 4.48% year over year. He said state aid remains the largest revenue source in the general fund, local revenues were slightly down, and federal revenues fell as COVID-era funds expired.

Board members discussed fund-balance trends and enrollment. Todd Madsen, chair of the finance and facilities committee, framed the review as part of the board’s regular oversight. “These actions are part of our annual financial oversight responsibilities, to make sure that we are being transparent and in compliance with state requirements,” Madsen said.

Tainter summarized district balances and reserves, noting the district’s unassigned fund balance remained relatively flat and that the district is working to restore fund-balance levels that exceeded 10% prior to the COVID period. He said the district’s statutory operating-debt metric is well above the negative threshold used by the Minnesota Department of Education and that Moody’s affirmed the district’s A3 credit rating during a recent surveillance.

On the levy, Tainter presented a preliminary levy for payable 2026 that is lower than the prior year by about $500,000, or roughly -2.13%. He explained the decrease results from revised enrollment estimates and the completion of several long-term facility maintenance projects that reduced the immediate LTFM levy need.

Despite the preliminary decrease, the board approved a motion directing the clerk to certify the maximum available levy to the Hennepin County auditor, a common procedural step that preserves flexibility while the district finalizes numbers. The board’s motion to certify the maximum available amount passed on a voice vote; the district will return to the board in December to certify the final levy at the Truth in Taxation hearing scheduled for Dec. 8, 2025.

The board also received a brief policy update: the policy committee presented three policies for first reading — Policy 506 (student discipline), Policy 722 (public data and data-subject requests) and Policy 806 (title read in the meeting as “bridal management”) — and reported no substantive content changes at first reading.

Board members asked staff to continue monitoring enrollment and expenditure trends and to bring final audit results and levy numbers to the December meeting for final certification. The board approved routine consent items and superintendent goals earlier in the meeting; both motions passed on voice votes without recorded roll-call tallies.

The board scheduled its next regular meeting for Monday, Oct. 13, 2025, at 7 p.m. in the District Office Assembly Room.