North Platte board reviews levy options, cash-reserve plans after Osgood sale

North Platte Public Schools finance director Stuart reviewed updated property valuations and three budget options at the district’s Committee of the Whole on June 26, 2025, telling the board the district’s preliminary valuations showed roughly a 3.8% increase from last year. The discussion focused on whether to shift some special building levy into the general fund, how to allocate proceeds from the recent Osgood property sale, and how much to put into cash reserves versus leaving capacity to hire staff midyear if enrollment increases.

Why it matters: the board must set levy requests and hold required public hearings before August certification. Decisions about moving levy authority among funds affect the district’s operating general fund, funds available for building projects (special building fund and QCPUF), and the district’s cash-reserve level used for unexpected costs or midyear staffing needs.

Stuart said the district had conservatively projected a 2% baseline but that preliminary valuations now point to a smaller, near-3.8% gain, and described two primary options presented to the board. Option A shifts about one penny of special building fund levy into the general fund, which Stuart said would produce roughly $340,000 of additional general-fund capacity (enough, he said, for about two staff positions if needed or to add to cash reserves). Option B would shift more into the general fund and reduce the special building and QCPUF levies a bit more, producing a larger cash-reserve target—about $500,000 in the general fund under the proposal discussed.

Board members pressed for clarity on how the recent Osgood sale ($413,000 reported elsewhere in the meeting) interacts with the proposed levy shifts; Stuart explained the penny-based levy adjustment was driven by valuation changes, not the Osgood proceeds, and that proceeds from the sale go into the special building fund and could be redirected by decision of the board. Members also noted outstanding building invoices (Eisenhower project bills) that will be paid from the building fund, reducing immediately available cash in that account.

Several trustees said they wanted the board’s default use of any one-time proceeds to be cash-reserve building (plan A) and only to use the funds for new staff (plan B) if student enrollment growth required it. Trustees also discussed using building- or QCPUF funds for safety projects (for example, high-school access-control projects) rather than raising the general-fund levy.

Board direction and next steps: trustees asked administration to run additional scenarios showing (a) option A and B with the Osgood proceeds explicitly applied to reserves, (b) the net effect on the joint public hearing threshold (the district seeks to stay under the statutory lid for allowable growth calculations), and (c) a breakdown of how each option would affect staffing capacity and planned building expenses. Administration said certified valuations arrive in August and that at least three public hearings will be required; the board agreed to continue discussion and to request emailed scenario breakdowns before the next meeting.

Members who spoke on the budget included Stuart (finance director); Dr. Rhodes (superintendent); Dr. Damon McDonald (associate superintendent); and board members Justin Thompson, Joanne, Emily Geary, Skip and Cindy O'Connor. No final levy resolution was adopted at this meeting; the board kept the budget discussion open for further scenario work and scheduled follow-up before certification.