Northland Pines board approves 2025–26 budget amendments, sets $20.68 million tax levy

At its Oct. 27 meeting the Northland Pines Board of Education approved amendments to the 2025–26 budget and set the tax levy at $20,680,355, the board chair said.

Board chair (Chair) moved to approve the budget amendments “as presented and to approve and set the tax levy amount at $20,680,355,” and a board member seconded the motion. The motion was carried by voice vote.

Why it matters: The levy figure anchors local property tax calculations for the coming year and funds district operations. School staff told the board that final levy figures changed from earlier estimates after receiving Department of Public Instruction (DPI) data.

Discussion and details: District staff (Tara) and the district administrator (District administrator) told the board that the levy is a penny higher than the board’s prior estimate but remains lower than amounts on last year’s tax bills. The district administrator said the district will collect $39,157 on behalf of the state for school vouchers and that those funds are routed to Madison rather than staying local: “When people see their tax bill, they think it's going to Northland Pines, and it's not…we collect this and then ship it out right away,” the district administrator said.

The board also discussed meeting recordings. Staff reported the district will continue to livestream regular board meetings and post recordings to the district YouTube channel, but committee meetings will not be recorded to reduce staff time and resource use.

Board action and next step: The motion to adopt the budget amendments and set the levy carried by voice vote; no roll‑call vote was recorded in the meeting transcript. Board members noted that budget amendments may still be made in the future if new information arises.

The board then moved on to administrative reports and later convened a closed session to consider the district safety plan and safety drill reports.