Annual electors’ meeting set for Sept. 22; budget proposal preliminary with no mill-rate increase anticipated

Assistant Superintendent Lenny Hansen told the board that state law requires an annual meeting of the electors for K–12 districts and summarized the timeline and legal mechanics the district will follow this fall.

Hansen said the district’s annual meeting is scheduled for Sept. 22, with a budget hearing at 6:30 p.m. followed by the annual meeting at 7 p.m. “The annual meeting is gonna be on September 22 this year,” Hansen said, noting the district’s agenda and a proposed advisory resolution will be published in advance. He told the board that the proposal is based on preliminary data and that key state data points needed to finalize the budget often do not arrive until early to mid-October.

Hansen said staff and advisers used projections and consults with financial advisors (Baird) to develop the proposed numbers and that the board will set the final budget and levy at its Oct. 27 meeting, when final Department of Public Instruction and Department of Revenue data are expected. He said the district is “anticipating no increase in the mill rate from its prior number of $6.14” but cautioned the figures may change when final data arrive.

A board member asked whether the preliminary numbers could change before Sept. 8, when the board will be asked to place the agenda and resolution on the annual meeting agenda. Hansen said the numbers might be adjusted and that the board’s Sept. 8 action must set the resolution that will be presented at the annual meeting; he advised staff would inform the public at the annual meeting if adjustments were already known.

The board will consider approving the annual meeting agenda and the advisory resolution at its Sept. 8 regular meeting so statutory notices and publications can occur between that date and the Sept. 22 meeting.