Sioux Falls School Board approves 10-year opt-out adding $2.1 million for taxes payable 2026
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Summary
The Sioux Falls School District 49‑5 board voted to adopt a 10-year opt-out resolution to raise $2,100,000 beginning with taxes payable in 2026. Board materials say the opt-out follows a finance group recommendation to use a laddered approach and maintain contingency funds; the resolution includes the statutory right for a citizen referendum.
The Sioux Falls School District 49‑5 school board voted Monday to adopt a 10-year property tax opt-out that will add $2,100,000 starting with taxes payable in 2026.
The board approved a resolution stating it is “unable to operate under the tax limitation measure currently in statute in the general fund” and opting out of the limitation for the district by the stated amount. The motion was approved by voice vote after a motion and second; the chair said “That resolution is adopted.”
The board presentation said the opt-out follows recommendations from a finance advisory group formed to review expiring opt-outs. The recommended approach uses a laddering method — annual smaller increases that are adjusted for inflation — rather than a single multi-year levy, and aims to maintain a 10-year target fund balance equivalent to about $15,000,000 in 2019 dollars. “The opt out is [a] critical component of the school district budget,” the district presenter said during the report.
Board materials included a recent practice of levying smaller opt-outs annually (starting at $1.5 million and increasing by $100,000 per year through 2025). The new 10-year opt-out would continue that approach, with the district levying $12,000,000 in opt-out capacity for taxes payable in 2026 as part of the adopted budget.
The resolution notes the action may be referred to a public vote if a petition signed by at least 5% of registered voters in the district is filed within 20 days of first publication. The resolution also instructs the county auditor to spread an excess levy to raise the stated tax dollars unless the electorate reverses the action.
Board discussion at the meeting emphasized fiscal prudence and contingency planning. The presenter summarized the finance group’s findings that the district had been fiscally conservative and that maintaining an opt-out at a steady percent of the budget offered risk mitigation if revenues underperform.
Votes at a glance (procedural items related to the meeting): the board approved minutes from the June 9 meeting and approved the evening’s agenda and consent and supplemental consent agendas (the supplemental consent passed with one abstention noted in the record).
