After pledging to return the entirety of the $16.4 million 23-24 budget surplus, the school board has instead voted to retain $3.5 million. They intend to conduct a special meeting where the public can vote on whether or not to use the $3.5 million to make a payment towards the EEI lease for projects being completed around the district. They say that making the lease payment will save $1.4 million in interest. There are two problems with this.
- The $3.5 million withheld from the 23-24 surplus is not needed to make this lease payment. The 24-25 budget includes $2.1 million to be used towards a lease payment and the district received an additional $1 million from the state in adequacy aid. The $3.5 million in surplus from 23-24 could have been returned to the taxpayers and the lease payment could have been made (still saving the $1.4 million in interest) using money from the current 24-25 budget.
- Even if, at the special meeting that has yet to be scheduled or announced, the public votes against using the $3.5 million withheld from the 23-24 surplus, it’s too late for this money to be returned to the taxpayers. It will have to carry over to the 24-25 budget, presumably contributing to another massive budget surplus next year (unless the school board does everything in their power to spend it down).
Below is a PDF copy of the statement made by John Downing at Delegates and Individuals to the school board on 9/5/2024. The suggestion was ignored.