“It’s been a long process,” Sweetwater County School District No. 2 business manager Pete Brandjord said when introducing the district’s 2017-2018 budget Tuesday night.
The school board approved the district’s budget and mill levy allocations.
The district, as a result of action from the Wyoming Legislature earlier this year and decreased capital projects expenditures, suffered a $5.6 million decrease in its budget from last year.
In total, the budget will be $58.6 million. Brandjord said the district may receive another 6 percent decrease in revenues for the 2018-2019 budget year, but due to political uncertainty within the state, the certainty of that decline is unknown.
The district’s assessed valuation decreased by 2.56 percent, $23.7 million, causing the valuation to drop to $904.8 million.
The district’s 25 mill levy generated $22.6 million, a decrease of $594,384 from the prior budget.
For the district’s general fund, revenues are projected to be $41.05 million, while appropriations are listed at $40.6 million.
The amounts budgeted are a 1.46 percent decrease from the prior year, while revenue increases by 1.10 percent.
In capital projects, appropriations totaling $6.1 million will go to Lincoln Middle School’s renovation and the ongoing conversion of Wilson Elementary to a new Central Office Building.
The district’s debt service fund, which is in place from the sale of bonds funding the construction of the Green River High School Aquatics Center, will require a total payment of $1.76 million. Board member Steve Core asked if the district could pay the bonds on the center off before its June 15, 2021 maturity date, but Brandjord said a call feature, which would allow that kind of payment, was not included in drafting the bond terms.
Branjord said the bonds would have been less attractive to investors with that feature, which could have impacted bond sales. The district will have to continue paying until the maturity date.
While voting on the budget, board members debated Region V BOCES mill levy funding. Core suggested a .112 levy to keep the organization at a revenue neutral position, arguing the original proposal of a .2 mill levy would raise taxes on residents within the school district, saying he would be against raising taxes and saying everyone else has taken hits due to reduced revenues.
“I don’t think this district should raise taxes,” Core said.
Voting tied on Core’s proposal, killing it. Board chair Brenda Roosa said Region V BOCES supports students in the district and said the funding would support their students. Separate from Sweetwater BOCES, Region V BOCES, operates the Roosevelt Learning Center in Rock Springs, as well as the Sunrise School in Hudson and the C-V Ranch in Wilson. Roosa said she would entertain a different mill levy amount, to which Core proposed a .113 levy. Core’s second proposal was approved.
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