Loyal Board looks at dates for next operational referendum
The Loyal School District is just beginning the final year of the $675,000 annual revenue cap exemption that voters approved in November 2018. The Board of Education will have to decide soon when it will go back to voters to ask for another chunk of local property tax dollars.
The Board discussed options for another referendum at its July 27 monthly meeting, and has one month left to make a decision if it wants to get a question on the next available election ballot, on Nov. 8. The Board could also choose to wait and hold a referendum in April 2023, and a successful outcome then would still give the district the extra money for the 2023-24 fiscal year.
Loyal has been operating for the last five years with the extra taxes approved in November 2018. That question asked for $280,000 for the 2018-19 year, which was added to the final year of a $375,000 exemption approved in 2014. The 2018 question then asked for $675,000 each year from the 2019-20 year thru 2022-23.
District Administrator Chris Lindner said the district’s financial advisor presented the Board with a financial scenario in June, and will return for the Board’s next scheduled meeting on Aug. 24. Numbers are still being refined, but Lindner said the advisor will likely recommend that the Board propose a referendum with a figure higher than $675,000 annually.
“I think it’ll be more than that, what we’ll be needing, asking for,” Lindner said.
The Board has several decisions to make as it looks ahead to future financial needs. In past referendums, it has asked for approval for non-recurring exemptions, or ones that end after a specified number of years. The Board could also ask for a recurring amount, which essentially would be added permanently to the district’s state-approved revenue limit.
Most school districts ask for non-recurring referendums, in part because it gives a chance for a district to change taxation levels as financial conditions change.
“The advantage there is every five years you can re-evaluate and see what amount you really need,” said Board President Tom Odeen.
Lindner said the district still has the $675,000 from the last referendum approval for the fiscal year budget that began on July 1, but will need voter approval to get more money for the 2023-24 budget. That approval would be needed in either November 2022 or April 2023 as there is no scheduled election for November 2023. A state law change put in place a few years ago prohibits a school from holding a special election for a referendum.
“If we wait too long, we will be out that year (2023-24),” Lindner said. “It will be tough.”
If the Board wants to call the next referendum already for Nov. 8, it must act by Aug. 31 to get the question printed on the next ballot. Lindner said holding a referendum on Nov. 8 would be helpful, as the Board could then use the April 2023 election as a “failsafe” in case a November question would not pass.
The Board will review the latest financial numbers at its Aug. 24 meeting, and will then decide if it will call a question yet this year. Odeen said the district has less debt and has seen other budgetary improvements since the last vote in late 2018.
“The positive thing is we’re in a much better financial position than we were five years ago,” he said.
This next referendum would be for operational purposes only, and is not related to the referendum vote that failed in April of this year. That question asked voters specifically for as much as $11.7 million to fund a school expansion/renovation project, and was defeated on a 514-305 count.
In other action at its July 27 meeting, the Board approved the addition of five minutes to the end of each school day’s length. The change means that the student day will begin at 8:05 a.m., as in the past, but end at 3:25 p.m. instead of 3:20. Lindner said the extra minutes will be added to the schools RTI (Response to Intervention) time, and will add a bit more flexibility to the schedule to get students in and out of the cafeteria at lunch time. Also, he said, by adding the extra minutes to each day, the district will gain enough instructional hours to give it an additional two inclement weather days that would not have to be made up.
