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Council gives guidance for 79¢ tax rate; school board presents FY26 budget seeking $1.2 million from city
Summary
Winchester Public Schools presented a FY2026 budget asking the city for $1.2 million to cover salary and inflationary increases. City council gave staff guidance to prepare a tax-rate scenario at $0.79 per $100 of assessed value and asked staff to return with a detailed 79¢ budget at the next meeting.
Winchester City Council on March 25 heard a presentation from Winchester Public Schools on its fiscal year 2026 budget and gave staff guidance to prepare a tax-rate scenario at $0.79 per $100 in assessed value.
The school board chair and superintendent presented a budget that centers on salary-scale adjustments and cost-of-living increases, with a net request to the city of $1.2 million for FY2026. Dr. Jason Van Hoekkelam and School Board Chair Brian Gonzales said the proposal tightens and standardizes pay scales, raises the minimum hourly wage for lowest-paid positions and includes a market-driven step increase for teachers. The schools expect state revenue tied to average daily membership (ADM) to cover much of the plan but are asking the city to fund the remaining local share.
The budget presentation emphasized two risk factors: fluctuations in ADM and the phasing out of several federal grants. Van Hoekkelam said the division plans conservatively on 4,100 ADM for state revenue estimates and noted that federal COVID-era grants that previously boosted the budget will no longer be available in full in coming years.
City Manager Dan Hoffman reviewed the city’s budget options and said council guidance was needed on the tax rate to finalize the city budget. Councilors discussed trade-offs among maintaining fund balance, funding public safety positions and fully supporting the school request. Several councilors said they wanted to avoid using recurring one-time fund balance for ongoing expenses; others emphasized that failing to fund employees competitively risks losing staff to neighboring jurisdictions.
After discussion, Council adopted a formal motion giving staff direction to prepare the tax-rate ordinance and related budget materials using a $0.79 rate for first reading. Council members noted the city will still publish a not-to-exceed notice in the newspaper (per state advertising requirements) and that the final tax rate and budget will be decided at a later meeting.
The schools said the total WPS budget, including capital and federal grants, is about $95 million; the operating request driving the local ask is centered on personnel costs and inflation. The schools asked the council to fully fund the $1.2 million local share and to consider the budget’s salary adjustments as investments in retention and recruitment.
Council directed staff to return with a detailed 79¢ scenario, including the specific program and capital impacts of that rate and recommendations to reconcile remaining priorities if further adjustments are needed. The council will take the formal tax-rate ordinance up at the next meeting with a public hearing and final adoption scheduled later in the approval calendar.
