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Northland Pines proposes $20.62 million levy; electors approve levy and routine motions
Summary
At the Northland Pines School District annual meeting, the budget presenter outlined a proposed levy of $20,620,178 for 2025–26; electors approved the levy and additional routine items including board salaries, authorization for legal action, a Head Start lease at Eagle River Elementary and authority to set next year’s hearing date.
Tara Kerfritz, the district’s budget presenter, told electors the district ended the 2024–25 fiscal year with “a bank and book balance of around $11,000,000,” and laid out the revenue and enrollment assumptions behind the 2025–26 proposal.
Kerfritz said the district will use a three-year rolling average full-time-equivalent (FTE) of 1,262 to calculate revenue under the state revenue-limit formula. She said the formula allows Northland Pines to ask for roughly $11,650 per pupil this year, producing a base revenue limit shown in the packet and a proposed allowed revenue limit of $20,530,178; the total proposed levy presented to electors was $20,620,178, with an estimated mill rate near 3.22.
“A district’s budget may be amended at any time,” Kerfritz said, and she flagged three nonrecurring items that affect the limit: the voter-approved $5,600,000 operational referendum, a declining-enrollment exemption of $361,150, and a prior-year enrollment adjustment. She also described estimated increases in state funds tied to the biannual state budget — an estimated $420,000 in per-pupil funding, $423,000 in increased special education aid, approximately $164,000 for high-cost special education, and about $24,300 in added mental-health aid — and said those figures were estimates pending final state aid determinations.
A board member praised the presentation and put the numbers in local context, saying recent property revaluations meant many taxpayers could see lower school portions of their bills even though the levy rose. “We projected a 2% increase in property value, and we saw, again, around 10%,” the board member said in explaining why the mill-rate estimate looked favorable for many taxpayers.
A board member moved to approve the proposed tax levy of $20,620,178 for the 2025–26 fiscal year; the motion was seconded and carried after an oral vote of those present.
Electors also approved a motion to set school board salaries for 2025–26 at $3,600 per person annually and to continue reimbursement for board expenses and mileage. A board member clarified that the motion reflected current practice and did not increase the existing salary level.
The board approved a lease extension to keep Head Start (Family and Child Learning Centers) at Eagle River Elementary for the 2025–26 school year and authorized the board president to sign the agreement; meeting presenters said the lease terms match last year and that Head Start is a partner the district values. The motion as recorded in the meeting did not include an unambiguous dollar figure in the transcript packet; the electors approved the motion.
Finally, electors approved a motion authorizing the board to establish a different date and/or time for the 2026 budget hearing and annual meeting in accordance with state statute (referenced in the meeting as “stat 120.08”).
The district emphasized the numbers presented are preliminary: Kerfritz said a final budget and levy will be presented to the board in October after equalized property values, final enrollment, and confirmed state aid are available. The meeting closed with acknowledgements of long-serving staff, including the district administrator Scott Foster and administrative assistant Susie, and a final vote of thanks.
