Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Budget topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Fountain Hills board approves FY25 revised budget after public hearing; staff to provide follow-up detail
Summary
After a public hearing and staff presentation explaining ADM declines, state allocations and transfers between capital and maintenance funds, the Fountain Hills Unified School District board voted 5–0 to approve the FY25 revised budget and authorized follow-up clarifications by staff.
The Fountain Hills Unified School District governing board approved a revised fiscal year 2025 budget on May 7 after a public hearing and staff presentation that explained how changes in average daily membership and one-time state allocations altered revenue calculations and account transfers.
Dr. Jay (Speaker 2), the district's lead administrator, opened the public hearing with an overview of Revision No. 2, noting the state requires an end-of-year revision and that the district previously completed an initial revision in December. He explained that the district’s ADM calculation dropped “a little bit” for the current year, reducing the revenue-control limit, and described transfers made from capital to maintenance and operations to cover needs. "We're dealing with the same budget we started with a year ago, so the carry forward is still the same," he said.
Speaker 8, who summarized line-item changes, said the district saw a $684-per-student decrease in one calculation this year and detailed transfers that increased the district's Governing Budget Limit (GBL) in some areas. He outlined projected capital carry-forward and near-term timelines, including a June 4 close for FY26 and an expected formal adoption of the next fiscal year's budget in June/July.
Board members pressed staff for clarifications on several points. Speaker 3 asked whether the ADM dip was unusually low; Speaker 2 replied that ADM measures daily membership and that some students are not full-time, and noted programmatic corrections already approved will help next year. On teacher-average salary, staff said the reported decrease reflected retirements among higher-paid employees rather than a reduction in pay rates.
Speaker 8 also committed to responding to a set of detailed questions submitted by board member Miss Reed and to blind-copy the board on follow-up emails so members can see the answers.
The board later voted, on a motion to approve the fiscal year 25 revised budget, and the motion carried 5–0. The district will close the budget on June 4 for FY26 planning; staff will provide the additional data requested by board members via email and in future packets.
Votes at a glance: the revised FY25 budget passed by voice vote and was recorded as unanimous (5–0).
