Finance officer says local property and sales tax are stronger than expected, warns of state funding uncertainty

Brad Willard, the district's finance and facilities officer, told the school board at its April 22 finance/facilities meeting that local ad valorem collections have outpaced projections and that a timing quirk produced higher sales tax receipts in March.

Willard said, “We have current year to date actuals of 29,200,000 where we had originally projected 28,” and explained that two sales tax payments were received in March that together covered February and March collections. He said the district's largest bond payment was made in February and only a smaller bond payment remains due in June.

The details matter because Willard said the district is preparing its 2026'27 budget during a reassessment year and must account for state funding adjustments. He warned that state revenue lines ' including the general fund, the EIA allocation and retiree insurance '…