District mill rate to slightly increase for ‘24

Abbotsford School District residents will see a minor increase in their mill rate over last year after the school board approved the district’s 2023-24 budget at its annual meeting on October 23.

The budget in total went down 24.64% with a decrease of $4,748,407.61 in total expenditures. That apparent decrease is due to the drastic drop in the capital projects fund which housed the FEMA building addition in 2022-23.

The slight increase in tax levy will somewhat be offset by a 27% increase in school tax credit. Compared to previous years, the $8.91 per $1,000 in assessed property value is lower than the mill rate had been from fall of 2017 to the spring of 2022. For a $150,000 home within the district, the homeowner would pay $1,337.84 in taxes to the school district which is about $35 more than what the homeowner would have paid last school year. The district’s mill rate was $9.60 prior to the 2022 referendum and it was projected to remain flat. However, the district approved a $0.92 decrease for last year.

Finance Manager Ashley Dake told the board that on top of FEMA funding, a grant funded playground expansion and a parking lot replacement line item, federal ESSER fund income was excluded from next year’s budget as the funds are no longer being distributed.

For that reason, along with a decrease in special project grants from the Department of Public Instruction, $1.3 million in federal funding in the 2022-23 budget was reduced to $440,704 in 2023-24.

Dake noted that the state did give the district an additional $175,767 in state aid for the 2023-24 school year.

“While we’re getting state aid, we’re not getting as much in federal aid,” Dake said.

In the district’s general fund, the board adopted a budget with $11,505,752.83 in revenues and other financing sources, down from $11,901,103.13 last year.

Other changes in funding to specific expenditure areas in the proposed 2023-24 budget are: curriculum and instruction expenses, 1.53% increase, special project funds, 10.2% increase, Special Education fund, 6.94% increase, debt service fund, 26.53% decrease, capital projects fund, 91.01% decrease and food service fund, 3.93% decrease.

Among new expenses are a server replacement that is expected to cost $25,000, technology updates budgeted at $80,000 and a transit van replacement which is expected to cost the district $45,000. Additionally, the football field press box is expected to cost the district $167,000 in 2024 but District Administrator Ryan Bargender said most, if not all of that money, will come from donations.

The budget was approved by the board unanimously with board member Yvonne Vazquez being listed as absent.

The results of the community survey asking Abbotsford district residents about the proposed $17 million referendum for facility improvements was presented to the board on October 23.

Rob DeMeuse from School Perceptions provided the board with a presentation containing the company’s findings. He said the results of the survey were relatively positive.

The most important question contained in the survey received the most positive feedback from residents. The question asked flatly if the respondent would support a $17 million referendum to fund a facilities improvement plan.

Staff who live within the district supported the referendum at a 96% clip. Resident parents (78%) and resident non-parents, non-staff (53%) also voiced their support for the referendum. Of the non-parents and non-staff group, 34% said they would not support the referendum.

DeMeuse said the non-parents/non-staff group would likely make up around 75% percent of the voting public so achieving a number that was over 50% voicing their support for the referendum was a good sign in support of the referendum. When weighting the various groups in population groups, DeMeuse and his team estimated if the election were held now, that 59.3% of voters would choose to support the referendum with a 5.95% margin of error.

Two-hundred and eighty-two residents took the survey which is roughly 10% of the voting residents in the school district of Abbotsford. DeMeuse said that number represented a good enough portion of the population but it was on the low end of what he would like to see.

Three other questions about specific projects were asked in the survey. A $272,000 solar panel expansion to the referendum was supported by 55.3% of the weighted responses. A proposed $4 million expansion for the cafeteria/commons and community fitness space and a $1 million plan to install artificial turf on the football field were not as supported as 49.5% said yes to the commons expansion and 20.3% said yes to turf.

The board did not vote on whether it was willing to pursue a referendum as of yet, but will likely vote on the matter next month.