Rushford-Peterson Public Schools proposes $2.74 million levy for payable 2026; board holds Truth in Taxation hearing

Rushford-Peterson Public Schools presented a proposed levy of $2,735,461 for 2025 payable in 2026 at a Truth in Taxation public hearing on Dec. 15, 2025. The district’s slides showed a total levy increase of $103,045, or 3.91 percent, from the prior year.

The presentation attributed the levy increase to fund-level needs: a proposed General Fund levy of $1,357,708 (an increase of 6.85 percent), a General Debt Service levy of $1,317,168 (2.12 percent increase) and a Community Education levy of $60,584 (listed as -15.83 percent change). The district’s FY25–26 budget tables on the slides showed modest year-to-year changes in revenues and expenditures across General Fund, Food Service and Community Education lines.

Slides provided the district’s revenue mix for 2024–25: 79 percent state aid, 2 percent federal aid, 12 percent local taxes and 7 percent other local revenues. The presentation noted that state aid will trail inflation (citing a figure of about $1,470 less per pupil in FY26 in the slide materials) and reviewed long-term facilities maintenance (LTFM) revenue breakdowns, including a state share and local levy share.

The district also summarized property-class effects and credits: slides showed market-value and tax-share percentages by property class and explained the Ag2School credit (noting the credit remains at 70 percent for 2026 and that Ag2School payments are made by the state and therefore do not appear on the levy certification report). The presentation listed the district’s Ag2School credit amount as $416,088.

The slide deck included procedural material about Truth in Taxation requirements (a law passed in 1989 requiring county tax statements and a public hearing before levy certification), equalization factors for Local Optional Revenue (LOR) and referendums, and guidance on valuation statements and appeal timing.

The slides listed contact information for taxpayers and officials, including county auditor/treasurer phone numbers and school district contact Ben Bernard. The provided transcript is slide-driven and does not record any public comments, speakers’ verbal exchanges or a recorded board vote to certify the levy in the segments supplied; the agenda did list an item to "Certify the final Levy Certification 2025 Payable 2026 in the amount of $2,735,461." If the board later took formal action, that outcome is not recorded in the supplied transcript.

Next steps: taxpayers wanting more detail were directed in the slides to state and county contact numbers and to the district contact provided on the presentation. The transcript indicates the hearing materials and proposed levy were presented to the board; any subsequent certification or vote should be confirmed in meeting minutes or later records.