ELLY GRIMM

   • Leader & Times

Governing entities in the area are completing their budget discussions, including USD 480.

The USD 480 school board adopted its budget for the 2026-2027 fiscal year at its most recent meeting Sept. 14. That meeting also saw the board vote to approve a resolution to exceed Revenue Neutral Rate (RNR) as well as a resolution that sets the Local Option percentage consistent with the statewide average of 32.4 percent. During the process, the district’s leadership reviewed assessed valuations, federal and state funding realities, the Building Needs Assessment and community feedback before reaching budgetary consensus and finalizing everything.

Director of Business Nila Newton went into detail about the budget’s numbers.

“For Fiscal Year 2026-2027, the General Fund budget for USD 480 is set for $44,517,179, and the adopted Supplemental General Fund Budget is $14,606,537,” Newton said. “Our federal funds are budgeted at $2,974,017, and the total assessed valuation for all district funds (except General) for 2026 is $190,883,579. The General Fund assessed valuation is $145,722,792. When comparing the budget for this year to last year, it is important to note that the district's tax rate will stay almost exactly the same. The estimated rate for this year is 45.992 mills, compared with 46.001 mills last year. That is a very small decrease year over year. In this year’s budget, the district expects to levy about $9.42 million in local property taxes, which is approximately $51,000 less than last year.”

Newton also noted a lower collection rate compared to past years.

“In past years, the district had received about 95 percent of expected taxes by the end of the fiscal year in August. Last fiscal year, that collection rate fell to approximately 58 percent to 63 percent (depending on the fund) with the budget calculation showing about a 61 percent collection rate compared to the 95 percent collection rate at the same date the year prior,” Newton said. “The slightly lower collection rate means the district did not need to raise the tax rate this year; however, it may have an impact on future budgets. An important change when preparing this year's budget was a change in the timing of local property tax collection and distribution. This change will also have an impact on future budgets as it will show tax funds from the previous year as received this year and will show a lower collection rate for this fiscal year.”

Newton added there were many priorities that were part of this year’s budget discussions.

“When preparing the budget, the KSDE requires each school building within the district to review the previous years and identify areas of need,” Newton said. “These Needs Assessments act as our guide when putting the budget together. We look at each school’s needs from previous years and future plans to allocate funds. The school board reviews all of the Needs Assessments from throughout the district before a proposed budget is submitted. This year the main needs across all USD 480 buildings and levels were hiring and keeping qualified teachers and staff, helping students with behavior, mental health and social-emotional needs, improving reading, math and other academic results, providing extra help for at-risk students, training and supporting new teachers, providing professional development for staff, and increasing parent and family involvement. We are continuing to deepen our investment in professional growth, retention and recruitment through a strategy that reflects both innovation and care.  We are also committed to honoring and retaining our legacy staff since their experience and dedication anchor our district. When it comes to recruitment, we are broadening our outreach to attract candidates who align with our district’s culture and goals. We’ve also been making investments in curriculum alignment and instructional coherence, which includes adopting new curriculum materials and pairing them with professional development to ensure everyone is equipped.”

Newton said she was pleased with how the overall process of putting the budget together ended up.

“I can confidently say the budget came together well, and our district leadership expressed confidence in this year’s process,” Newton said. “As a whole, I feel this budget strikes a good balance, delivering the resources students need while maintaining sensitivity to taxpayer burden.”

Superintendent Dane Richardson also praised this year’s adopted budget.

"Our goal when preparing our yearly budget is to continue providing the best education possible to our students and take care of our staff at the highest level we can while still being conscious of what we are asking from our local taxpayers and being good stewards of that on the other side," Richardson said.