Homeowners for a second straight year won’t be asked to pay more to Orland School District 135.
The elementary district’s board voted 5-0 on Monday to approve an $80 million budget that officials say will not require a property tax increase next year.
“We balanced the budget, and we’re not going for a levy increase,” board President Joe La Margo said. “We’re going to keep the levy flat.”
The levy likely will be voted on in November.
The board, coming off an election that voted in a new majority, did taxpayers two favors a year ago by forgoing a tax hike and tapping reserves to retire debt early. That led to a tax cut of about $4.1 million that continues this year, with the debt on track to be erased by May.
“Reserves will stay flat, except in debt service because we’re going to spend the reserves paying the debt off,” said Carl Forn, finance director. “We’re going to end the year with about $700,000 is debt service cash, where we would normally end the year with about $5 million.”
The board, with members Sandra Kulak and Laura Berry absent, also saw a presentation on how Jerling Junior High music students are integrating laptop computers into their lessons, approved some minor financial moves, and heard from two parents upset at the cancellation of the districtwide accelerated reading program.
“It seemed like it was a hasty decision. Teachers were told about two weeks before coming back to school,” said Robin Michon, whose daughter, a second-grader at Center School, was upset by the move. “As a parent, this seemed like a very viable program.”
Superintendent Janet Stutz said the program, which was open to students in second through fifth grades, didn’t mesh with the focus of new Common Core curriculum guidelines. It has been replaced by separate programs at each grade school.
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La Margo said the board has heard parents’ concerns about the program’s demise and will discuss the issue when it meets Oct. 20 to review curriculum concerns.
Board members also voted to expand the list of banks with which the district can invest, a move that gives board treasurer Jan Prieto-McCarthy more options for boosting returns on the district’s $44 million in reserves. She and Forn were hired as a team in February.
The board also approved spending up to $11,000 on financial planning software from PMA Financial Network and hired HealthEngine LLC. Stutz said HealthEngine negotiates rates for health care services and will help district employees comparison-shop online.