Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the School Finance Levy topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Farmington staff say preliminary levy figures are incomplete as district prepares 2026 budget kickoff
Summary
District finance staff presented preliminary tax-levy figures that show a large apparent drop but warned the state data are incomplete; board members were briefed on the levy process, referendum timing and key levy components ahead of a September certification and a December final levy vote.
Director Brian Huska, the district finance official, told the Farmington Public School District board that the report the district received from the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) showed “a reduction of 9.5%,” but he warned: “It will not be 9.5. It will be somewhere between 13%.”
Huska said the document the board received that evening was MDE’s statutory report, compiled from district submissions in August and released to districts on a statutory schedule. He said the district will return in September to ask the board to certify a maximum levy and will bring a specific final levy amount for approval at the district’s first December meeting.
The discussion was presented as the kickoff for the district’s 2026–27 budget cycle. Huska described the levy as one half of the revenue picture: “The levy side of it” comes from local taxpayers while aid arrives from the state, and changes to one often interact with the other. He also emphasized that changes in homeowners’ property values are the main driver of individual tax bills: if one house’s value rises faster than another’s, that homeowner’s taxes can rise even if the district levy drops.
Huska outlined three levy components the board should watch: the general levy (driven largely by statutory formulas), the community education levy and debt service. He flagged three specific general-levy line items for follow-up—LTFM (long-term facilities maintenance), building lease and prior-year adjustments—and said those numbers on MDE’s report did not match district records.
Huska also described debt-service mechanics the board will see in coming years, saying the levy will show “the last time you’ll see a slight increase” before a $4.5 million to $5 million drop in the payable‑2027 levy as bonds roll off. He added that state statute allows districts to carry 5% above principal-and-interest payments, and any amounts above that are returned to taxpayers.
Board members asked for clarification about a 2015 referendum the board chose to auto‑renew in June. One board member said the referendum is “payable in ’26 … about $4,500,000,” and that a successful election could increase that levy by an estimated $8,000,000.
Huska and board members repeatedly cautioned that the MDE report had been delayed and incomplete when it arrived that afternoon. Chair Christiansen noted the timing issue and Huska blamed the “incompleteness of the data” from the state and said the district will work with MDE to correct the figures before the September certification.
The board did not vote on the levy at the meeting. Huska said the district will bring corrected figures and the recommended maximum levy for board certification at the September meeting and a final, precise levy for approval in December.
