6:46 p.m. This is the board of directorsspecial school board meeting for the truth and taxation hearing. Um, welcometo all of our visitors, guests, and media. Uh, tonight we're doing the boardroll calls. Mr. Phelp here, Mr. Burns here, Miss Schultz>> here. Miss Nathan >> here,>> Mr. O'Neal >> here,>> Mr. Scheler >> here,>> and we also have uh Mr. Griffith from uh school management systems. And therehave been no public comments prior to the start of this meeting.>> Oh, are there are there any public comments,>> Mr. Runell? Nothing. [laughter] >> All right. There were no public commentsuh prior or >> after the meeting here.>> We need a motion to close public comment in that situation or not.>> You can. >> Oh, is there a motion to close publiccomment? >> So move>> second. >> Motion to close public comment by Mr.Burns, second by Miss Nathan. All those in favor say I.>> I. All oppose. Nate. Motion carries. Thank you, Mr. Burns.And is there a motion to approve the agenda for the truth and taxationmeeting? So moved. >> Second.>> Motion made by Mr. O'Neal, seconded by Mr. Burns. All those in favor say I.>> All oppose? Nay. Motion carries. All right. Item three, the 25 WatertownMayor ISD 111 truth and taxation meeting. Um, so it's the 25 payable 26levy limitation and certification. And tonight with us we have the schoolmanagement service personnel Tom Griffin board or table or presentation is yourssomething like that. >> Thank you very much Watertown MayorSchool Board. My name is Tom Griffin. I work for school management services onbehalf of Watertown Mayor. We handle the um the finances for the school district.And today I'm going to present the truth and taxation.Just a little bit about uh truth and taxation law. It uh begins um in noaround November or so when uh residents of the county receive their notice. Umand then tonight there's this is the public meeting where we will review thisyear's budget and talk a little bit about the levy and then open it up forpublic uh comments. Um so a little bit about Minnesotaschool funding. Uh we're funded by the federal government, state government,local fees, local taxpayers. Uh but the largest portion is the state ofMinnesota that produces the largest amount of funding. Some points toremember, revenue formulas are set by the state. Uh local levy and state aidor mix equalization is set by the state legislature. An increase in local taxesdoes not necessarily mean an increase in revenues for the school district. Unlikecounties or cities, our levy is set by the state legislature who who sets theformulas that determine our levy amounts. So, uh here's going to now we're goingto do a quick look um at the uh school district budget forthis year. And um here's a here's a view of how umschool districts are funded. The uh first fund is fund one or the generalfund. General fund revenues are based on student enrollment. The largest usesuses of the general fund are general ed and special ed instruction, but alsofunds things like transportation facilities and capital expenditures.Um the food service fund is is called fund two and although it's included inthis presentation, it's not paid through our tax dollars, but that's you knowschool breakfast and lunch program. Uh community service revenue is based onadults and children under the age of five in the district. It's used forearly childhood and adult education alike. And then the debt service fund isused for payment of the principal and interest amounts. Um so here's a look at our fiscal year2526 uh budget. I guess it should be notedbefore I begin that um we are looking here at an adopted budget this evening.So this is the one that we uh set in April or May uh towards the beginning ofthis year and sometime um after the audit we're going to be making revisionsuh for the remainder of the year probably sometime next month and that'llbe uh called the revised budget. But today we're looking at the adoptionadopted budget. Um a fiscal year look at these funds show revenue going upslightly in all funds for a total of 29.949 million and an overall increaseof 1.3%. Um, this pie chart illustrates the pointI made earlier about state aid being the largest part of our general fund revenueor 76%. Um, local taxes in um, orange theremakes up about 15% and that's basically what we're talking about tonight. And where we saw our um revenues go up1.3% on previous slides, our expenses this year are also uh slated to go up by3.45% or just over 30 million. Uh this slide shows how our general funddollars are allocated to our expenses as a percentage. And you know I kind oflike to look at this slide as you know a dollar, right? So 100% equals a dollar.Uh 34% or 34 cents would go to regular instruction, 20 cents into specialeducation instruction, 12 cents into state buildings and equipment, and soon. But this kind of gives you an idea of how the general fund dollars arespent. Um here's another pie chart showing howthe general fund dollars are spent. uh close to 70% of the dollars go towardssalaries and benefits of the employees. Uh this is the norm acrossum all school districts in the state. They typically range from about 70 to80%. But salaries is the blue and then the orange is the benefits in thisparticular slide. It's kind of hard to tell. Um, as of June 30th of this year, thefund balance consisted of 5.32 million in assigned and unassigned or close to75% of the overall fund balance, followed by uh long-term facilitymaintenance and medical assistance. Uh, those are restricted fund balances[clears throat] um kind of determined by the legislatureor some of these other ones where we have to use them for specific purposes. So now we're going to talk a little bitabout the proposed levy for this evening. This is the 2025 payable 2026school district levy for the 2026 2027 school year be payable in fiscal year2027. Uh the authority for the school levymust be either set by the state formula voter approved or board approved up to$724 per pupil unit. Uh factors impacting the tax change, inflationarypressure, abadements, property improvements not previously taxed,change in individual assessed market value, or uh possible change in propertyclassification. This year uh 56% will be spent on theprincipal and interest of district debt [music]while most of the remainder will go towards instructional programs andcapital expenses. Um here's a look at our actual 2024 2025levy and our proposed levy for this year. Um in the general fund we'relooking to go up 1.83% 83% go down in community services. Overall, um aproposed dollar difference of $96,000 versus last year or 1.22%. Um here's here we see the changes we'reproposing this this year by [clears throat] levy category. And thethe real news on this slide is that there's no news. Um, we're swingingyear-to-year by less than 4% in all these categories. And overall, as Imentioned before, it's a 1.2% increase in the proposed levy. Um, over the last5 years or so, Watertown Mayor School District has been pretty consistent, andthat's a real good thing when it comes to school levies. Uh, no news is goodnews. Um, at this point, I'd like to open thefloor to any questions. >> Anything, Mr. Griffith?>> No. >> No.>> Uh, thank you. Tonight, we are asking the school board to pass the resolutionfor the 2026 levy, which will be collected in 2027, to be 7,944,4543. [music] So moved.>> Second. >> Have a motion made by Mr. Bird, secondedby Mr. On O'Neal. Any further discussion?>> I do have um the levy limitation and certification report to be signed. Idon't know if that's done now or >> Yep. It'll be done after the meeting.>> Yep. >> Okay.>> You'll get it later. >> All right. [laughter] So, all those infavor say I. >> I. All oppose, nay. Motion carries. Andthat ends the evening before 7:00. Do I have a motion to adjurnn the meeting?>> So move. >> Second.>> Motion made by Mr. Burns, second by Miss Nathan. All those in favor say I.>> I. All oppose, nay. Motion carries. Meeting is adjourned at 6:57 p.m. Wow.