Board votes to certify preliminary levy at maximum while state numbers are refined

Kristen Hoheisel, the district’s chief financial officer, told the board that Department of Education numbers for taxes payable in 2025 remain in flux and recommended certifying a maximum preliminary levy to preserve flexibility as the department finalizes inputs.

Hoheisel outlined several contributing factors — student-population formulas that reduce levy formulas when enrollment declines, prior-year adjustments that roll through levies, a legislative change increasing reemployment-insurance levy needs and an anticipated long-term facility-maintenance (LTFM) adjustment. She said the capital-projects referendum line remains at zero until the November public vote and that certifying the maximum allows the district to incorporate later corrections without losing flexibility.

"That's the reason for the recommendation of it being a maximum, is just because if you were to set a flat dollar amount, we own that, and that's where it stays," Hoheisel said, explaining the difference between locking a fixed figure and allowing the Department of Education to complete necessary adjustments.

Board members pressed for details on enrollment estimates, prior‑year adjustments, and whether the district could return to the board with refined numbers; Hoheisel said a truth-in-taxation hearing is scheduled for Dec. 2 and that final certification would occur Dec. 16. After Q&A, the board moved, seconded and took a roll-call vote to certify the levy as the maximum preliminary levy for taxes payable in 2025; the clerk recorded the vote as 6 yes, 0 no.

The district will post finalized levy sheets after the Department of Education completes updates and will present a revised budget and truth-in-taxation materials for public review before the final certification.