Somerset board adopts 2024–25 budget, sets $140,000 Fund 80 levy to cover SRO and middle-school athletics

The Somerset School District board voted to adopt the district's 2024—19 25 budget and to set the Community Services (Fund 80) levy at $140,000, a package the administration said includes funding for the School Resource Officer and middle-school athletics.

Dave, the district's finance presenter, told the board the updated documents reflect the most recent DPI information and the September enrollment count and that “Community Services fund 80 Levy is set at 140; this continues to be the direction that we've received from the board. It does include the SRO and it does include Middle School athletics and activities.”

Board members debated whether shifting athletics into Fund 80 was consistent with direction from the annual meeting and whether it had been explicitly voted previously. Officials said the board had directed administration to find legally permissible ways to reduce deficit spending and that placing some programs in Fund 80 was one option. The superintendent and finance staff explained state revenue-limit rules constrain changes to Fund 10 levy levels and that Fund 80 is commonly used for community-service items.

Several board members expressed reservations about moving middle-school athletics into Fund 80 and called for clear minutes and records of prior discussions. A motion to adopt the 2024—19 25 Fund 10 budget, certify the Fund 10 levy, and set Fund 39 and Fund 80 levies passed on a roll-call vote.

The administration said enrollment is complex and that the head-count figure (1,449) differs from third-Friday pupil counts used for some DPI formulas; a fuller enrollment presentation with regional comparisons and census data was promised at the next meeting.

Next steps: the board adopted the budget and certified levies; administration will proceed with Fund 80 accounting and bring additional enrollment analysis to a future meeting.