Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Budget And Finance topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Mt Vernon board approves 2027 bus and capital plans and authorizes transfer to offset homestead-credit losses
Summary
The Mt Vernon Community School Corporation board unanimously approved resolutions acknowledging the 2027 bus replacement plan and the 2027–2029 capital projects plan and approved a transfer resolution to move roughly $900,000 from debt service to operations to offset homestead-credit and circuit-breaker losses.
The Mt Vernon Community School Corporation board unanimously approved two resolutions acknowledging its 2027 bus replacement plan and the 2027–2029 capital projects plan, and approved a separate homestead-credit waiver and transfer resolution to move funds from debt service into operations.
At a public hearing, Mr. Elkins told the board the bus replacement plan had been posted to the Department of Local Government Finance Gateway and the district website as required and said the district planned to buy three new buses from bond proceeds this year, with the possibility of at least three more next year. "3 new buses from the bond proceeds this year," he said. He added the district would continue to pursue "fiscally responsible purchases of used buses as needed." The hearing closed with no public comment.
Mr. Elkins described the capital projects plan as a procedural list that the corporation is required to post when anticipated operations-fund purchases reach $10,000 or more; he emphasized the plan does not itself obligate spending and may be amended with board approval. The board voted to approve Resolutions 11 and 12 to acknowledge the plans (motion by Chad, second by Stacy); the motions carried 5-0.
Elkins also explained how Indiana's circuit-breaker caps and a recent homestead-credit change (an additional 10% homestead credit under SEA 1) increase revenue loss for many property-owners-at-cap districts, and described a long-used practice of transferring debt-service dollars to support operations. "This was about $900,000 that would not have gone to our operations fund," he said, describing the transfer as an insurance strategy to protect the operations budget. The board approved the 2026 homestead credit waiver and transfer resolution (motion by Kelly, second by Chad) by a 5-0 vote.
The approvals allow the district to submit the required resolutions to the Department of Local Government Finance. No public testimony was recorded on the plans during the hearings. The board took the actions as part of its regular session agenda and adjourned at 7:20 p.m.
