Hamilton board adopts $81.3 million budget, passes tax levy tied to referendum authority

The Hamilton School District board adopted its 2024‑25 fund‑10 budget and approved a tax levy during its Oct. 21 meeting.

Finance staff presented the final budget figure — $81,297,747 — and described how the district’s revenue‑limit authority, recent state aid increases and referendum decisions interact to determine how much is raised locally. The board also adopted a tax levy resolution; staff reported the district’s mill rate at roughly 7.04704 per $1,000 of assessed value and said the recent state aid increase (reported at about 10%) reduced the local tax impact compared with earlier projections.

Board members asked detailed questions about the composition of the $7.6 million revenue‑limit increase approved earlier via referendum and how much of the total would be borne by local taxpayers this year. Financial staff explained that the referendum increases the district’s total revenue‑limit authority but that some of the additional revenue is coming from higher state equalization aid rather than strictly local levy increases. One board member requested a future study session to walk through the worksheets and the mechanics in greater detail.

The adoption vote and levy resolution carried on voice votes. Finance staff said the adopted budget balances projected revenues and expenditures without using fund balance; staff reported a beginning fund‑46 balance and ongoing capital planning tied to referendum projects.

What’s next: staff said they will continue weekly budget‑tracker updates tied to the referendum projects and will present more detailed budget worksheets at a future study session.