Helix School Board adopts $9.7 million budget, sets tax rate at $4.5542 per $1,000

The Helix School Board adopted a $9,696,008 budget for the 2025–26 fiscal year and approved related appropriations and a permanent tax rate during its July 2 regular meeting.

The board voted to appropriate $5,395,433 for the General Fund, $1,840,000 for Special Revenue, $345,575 for Debt Service and $1,615,000 for Capital Projects. It also approved imposing a permanent rate of $4.5542 per $1,000 of assessed value for operations and set $365,000 for debt service on the district’s 2013 general obligation bonds. The motions passed with four members voting yea and one member absent.

Kara Taylor, assistant business manager with Intermountain Education Service District, presented financial details and earlier brought a resolution adding $69,000 in higher-than-anticipated state and federal receipts to the 2024–25 budget; the board approved reallocating those funds to Fund 200 ($30,000), Fund 212 ($10,000), Fund 251 ($21,000) and Fund 256 ($8,000), and approved a $105,000 adjustment to Fund 279 to correct a prior-year transfer.

The budget had been the subject of a June 18 budget hearing, where board motions to adopt the budget, make appropriations and impose the stated tax rate were recorded and carried 4–0 with one absence. The board confirmed those resolutions on July 2 as part of the regular meeting.

The financial update presented during the meeting showed recent receipts including a basic school support payment of $236,315, interest on investments and property tax receipts; the district’s projected enrollment was noted to start below the 197 cap for next year.

The board’s actions will be reflected in the district’s fiscal documents and posted as required; the motions recorded in the meeting minutes list the vote as Yea: 4, Nay: 0, Absent: 1.