Levy County School Board adopts 3.084 millage rate and $124 million final budget

The Levy County School Board on Sept. 11 adopted a final millage rate of 3.084 and approved a final budget for fiscal year 2025-26 totaling nearly $124,000,000 after a second public hearing and a staff presentation of changes from the tentative budget.

Mrs. Lake, a district staff member who presented the budget, told the board the proposed final millage rate is "the same as we adopted which is the 3.084." She said the district’s required local effort (RLE) is lower than last year but higher than the rollback rate, which required advertising for a tax increase in the Truth in Millage (TRIM) notice.

The final budget approved by the board is about $124 million, an increase of 5.8% from the tentative budget of roughly $117 million, according to the presentation. The superintendent and staff attributed much of the increase to finalized contracts, salary increases (about $1.2 million included in the general fund) and to bond refunding, which the presentation said accounted for a large share of increases in debt service and capital projects.

The board heard that within the general fund, 57% of district revenues flow through that fund, with state sources representing 31% of general-fund resources, local sources 15% and an 11% fund-balance contribution. On the expenditure side, the presentation said 56% of general-fund spending goes to student instruction and roughly 76% of the general fund pays employee salaries and benefits; about half of that salary spending goes to classroom teachers.

The presentation reviewed the district's fund-balance changes: the most recently closed year ended with a financial-condition ratio of 7.7% after county-allowable capital transfers, down from 18.4% the prior estimate; the adopted budget projects a $2.9 million deficit that includes $1 million in capital transfers and expects the financial-condition ratio to move to about 12.13% by the end of the coming year. Staff stressed the need to be "proactive in cutting costs" and to shift existing resources between schools rather than create new recurring expenditures.

During the meeting the board moved and seconded the motions to approve the final millage and to adopt the final budget. Both motions were approved by voice vote with the board answering "aye" and no opposition, and the chair declared the motions carried.

The board also reviewed and approved routine consent items and finance consent items during the same meeting. Staff said the budget will support the compensation agreement approved at an earlier meeting and that the district will continue to monitor needs such as additional classroom aides, particularly for ESE placements.

The district presentation included the millage breakdown listed in the advertised resolution: required local effort of 3.084 mills, a basic discretionary rate of 0.748 mills and a capital-outlay rate of 1.50 mills, for a total proposed millage of 5.332 mills; the resolution text in the record ties the millage adoption to the fiscal year 07/01/2025–06/30/2026. The board took the final vote on the millage before adopting the final budget, as reflected in the meeting record.

Board members who spoke during the meeting thanked staff for the workshop and for the work on the budget presentation. The meeting record shows the board will continue fiscal oversight and monitor the projected deficit and fund-balance changes as the year progresses.