While it’s less than what they’ve worked with before, Sweetwater County School District No. 2’s budget will fund some pay increases for teachers originally negotiated months ago.
The district’s board of trustees approved budgets for both the district and the recreation board, which utilizes a mill levy for district projects aimed at improving recreation and physical activities.
The district’s valuation decreased by $82.7 million in the last year, which resulted in the valuation being $928,625,233. The valuation for the entire county decreased much more sharply, 22.4 percent, or $131.9 million, county-wide compared to 8.18 percent for the district itself.
Overall, the district will operate on a $41.2 million budget, with revenues projected to be $40.6 million, which include budget decreases of about 1.89 percent in budget spending and 1.13 percent in revenue.
While the decline in minerals, specifically oil and gas, have resulted in much smaller revenues for many governmental organizations, the district was still able to create a budget that helped educators and employees receive cost of living adjustments.
“It’s amazing we came up with this product,” Pete Brandjord, business manager for the district, said.
However, not all of the mill levies approved by the district were done unanimously. The mill levy for Region 5 BOCES, which operates the C Bar V Ranch, a school serving emotionally disturbed students, and the Roosevelt Learning Center in Rock Springs, was a catalyst for disagreement.
The board debated on how best to fund the organization, which has received a mill levy from the district in the past, and some board members wanted to fund them with a 0.1 mill, roughly $92,000, which would have resulted in a decrease to BOCES. The district has utilized both C Bar V Ranch and Roosevelt Learning Center for students, but board member Steve Core said he believes the cut is appropriate because he didn’t agree with raising taxes within the district to fund Region 5 BOCES and believes the organization should face budget cuts as every other organization has done this year.
Board member Sherie Smith disagreed with Core, believing Region 5 BOCES offers a needed service to the district.
“It’s important we have that option for our students,” she said.
An initial vote to fund the group at a 0.1 mill failed as Core and board member Brad Cutler were the only to support it. A second vote, which funded at 0.109 mills, passed.
“I’m tempted to vote against it because I don’t like raising our taxes, but I’ll support it,” Core said prior to the final budget vote.
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