Board hears Truth-in-Taxation presentation on district budget, opens public comment

At the Dec. 9 meeting, Executive Director of Finance and Operations Scott LeSage delivered the district's Truth-in-Taxation presentation as required for taxes payable in 2025, laying out the proposed budget, funding context, and the steps that led to the recommended levy. LeSage reviewed how state funding formulas determine general education revenue (the FY25 formula allowance is $7,281 per pupil) and explained the interaction of state aid and local levies in the district's revenue mix. He walked the board through a multi-year look at the district's cost-containment measures implemented after the pandemic and the district's recovery anchored by renewed enrollment growth.

LeSage highlighted the district's FY2024-25 preliminary budget figures and projected General Fund revenue and expenditures, and explained key assumptions: enrollment estimates (preliminary FY25 enrollment referenced at ~12,684 projected and later nearer to 12,800 in materials), a 2% per-pupil formula allowance for FY25, cost pressures in salaries and benefits and transportation, and the district's strategy for assigned fund balances. The packet cautioned that an increase in the levy does not automatically equal an equal change in individual taxpayers' bills because tax capacity and legislative changes also affect tax bills.

As required by law, the board opened a public comment period for taxpayers to address the levy and budget. The meeting packet instructed speakers that comments and questions must be relevant to the district's payable-2025 levy certification and that speakers must state name and address for the record (Truth-in-Taxation presentation: SEG 2368'1; public comment: SEG 2870'1).