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Marion County staff present third-quarter referendum report and plan November renewal
Summary
District officials told the Independent Citizen Referendum Oversight Committee the one-mil referendum has generated nearly $262 million cumulatively with roughly $254 million spent to date; staff outlined program-level spending, a projected carryforward, and said referendum-renewal language will appear on the November ballot.
Marion County Public Schools officials presented a third-quarter report on the district's one-mil ad valorem property tax referendum, telling the Independent Citizen Referendum Oversight Committee that cumulative revenues have reached nearly $262 million and cumulative expenditures roughly $254 million.
The presentation, delivered by Mr. Rios Walsh, the district's finance lead, covered allowable uses of referendum funds (reading, physical education, art, music, library media, vocational programs, class-size reduction, staff retention and school safety) and the district's plan to seek a renewal on the November ballot. "Because of the work of the referendum, we are seeing great outcomes with our students," Dr. Brewer said, thanking voters and noting county commissioners approved placing renewal language on the ballot.
Mr. Walsh summarized year-to-date figures for the budgeted 2025-26 period: an adopted annual budget of about $41.2 million, collections reported at roughly 91% and expenditures at about 58% to date. He said the district carried forward $13.3 million from 2024-25 and projected a carryforward of about $11.3 million at year end, emphasizing these are restricted funds.
The report broke out major program budgets and spending: kindergarten paraprofessionals ($5.7 million), physical education ($10.5 million), vocational programs (~$2.9M), library/media ($4.5M), art ($5.3M), music ($6.3M) and school safety ($7.1M). Across program areas, salaries and benefits make up the largest share of spending.
Committee members pressed for additional detail on certain shifts. After a question about a drop in class-size reduction funding in 2024, Mr. Walsh said he did not have full staffing and accounting details on hand but offered to provide a list of units currently funded by the referendum. A committee member answered that some positions were absorbed through general-fund vacancies and budgeting.
Mr. Walsh also noted legal and administrative steps toward renewal: the district's legal team delivered referendum-renewal language to Mr. Wilcox's office and the renewal campaign will be run by a private group; staff said they would request speaking points from that campaign to share with the committee.
The committee set its next meeting for July 16. The chair adjourned the session at 5:02 p.m.
