Board reviews proposed 2024–25 budget and levy, schedules annual meeting

Business and finance staff (S3) reviewed the packet trustees will present at the district annual meeting on July 22, outlining revenue and expenditure assumptions for fiscal 2024–25 and key dates for budget hearings and final levy setting.

S3 said the district's fund balance remained near the board's target (~17%), in part because of one‑time restore grant funds that increased 2023–24 revenues and expenditures. The packet lists a proposed total property tax levy of about $12,200,000 and an estimated mill rate around $9.20 per $1,000 of taxable value, with a preliminary general equalization-aid estimate of roughly $14.5 million for next year.

The presentation flagged several revenue drivers: a $1,500,000 coding of restore grant receipts into fund 10 for advanced manufacturing, a one-time TID payout of roughly $165,000 in 2023–24 that will not recur, and a growth in open-enrollment revenue related to the virtual charter school. Staff said they expect some revenue-line reductions next year after the restore grant winds down and that final figures will be adjusted after the official student count in September and the October levy-setting process.

Trustees asked procedural questions about how midyear lease changes or new projects would be reconciled; staff explained such changes are processed through monthly board approvals and end-of-year budget revisions if needed. The board did not take a final vote on the preliminary levy at the meeting; trustees scheduled the formal public budget hearing in the middle-school library for July 22 at 7 p.m.

Numbers to check: staff presented ranges and preliminary estimates; several figures (for example, state-aid and fund-balance impacts) are estimates that will be finalized after the September student count and October submission to DPI.