Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Property Taxes And Budget topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Northfield board certifies payable-2026 levy; auditor reports seventh consecutive clean audit
Summary
The Northfield School Board certified its final payable-2026 property tax levy and heard that CliftonLarsonAllen expects to issue a clean audit opinion for fiscal 2025. District finance staff said the levy represents about 26% of general-fund revenue and that declining enrollment drove a slight levy decrease.
The Northfield Public School Board on Dec. 8 certified its final payable-2026 property tax levy and received a fiscal-year 2025 audit briefing from CliftonLarsonAllen.
Val, the district’s finance lead, told the board the district’s final certified levy in the packet is $27,468,778.21 and represents roughly 26% of the general fund’s revenue, though she noted the levy is spread across portions of Rice, Dakota and Goodhue counties. Val said the district’s certified levy is down about $271,000 (about 0.99%) from the prior year, chiefly because of declining enrollment, and explained how debt service, the voter-approved referendum and state-authorized levies make up the levy’s major parts. She also drew attention to Ehlers’ estimate that taxpayers could see about a 4.5% average decrease in school-district taxes assuming market values remain unchanged.
CliftonLarsonAllen principal Luke (CLA) told the board the firm expects to issue a clean audit opinion for fiscal 2025, with no internal-control or financial-reporting findings and a clean single-audit for tested federal programs. The auditor said some timing issues (a delayed federal compliance document) slowed final issuance but that the numbers presented are finalized and the formal statements were expected to be issued within days.
Board members pressed on details: Amy asked about the safe-schools fund (Val said the district receives about $142,000 annually for that purpose, used for the school resource officer contract, cybersecurity with Arctic Wolf, counselor support, chemical-health services and some equipment). Ben asked whether last year’s bond-related 26% increase means further spikes; staff explained the bond structure and tax-rate choices were intended to smooth future impacts.
The board voted to certify the levy limitation and certification report as presented. Val highlighted that the preliminary levy and final certified levy were identical this year because there was no voter-approved referendum change during the cycle. District staff said the final audited financial statements and the full audit report will be posted on the district website when issued.
What’s next: County auditors will receive the certified figures, and the district will publish the formal audit report and the revised budget materials in January’s board packet.
