Gilbert Public Schools will ask voters for override again

By Tom Blodgett
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For the second consecutive year, Gilbert Public Schools will go to voters to ask that they extend the district’s 15% maintenance and operations budget override. 

The difference is if voters turn the district down, as they did last November, the district will have to begin cutting its M&O budget, which pays for the district's day-to-day operations, including most salaries. 

Those cuts would take effect for fiscal year 2025-26 and deepen during the following two years. 

The board unanimously approved sending the measure to the ballot at its March 26 meeting. The vote will be part of the November general election. 

“I think it's important to remember that the state just really gives us money for a basic education, a very basic education,” Board Member Jill Humpherys said. “And what the override does is it gives us additional funds for the high-quality education that our constituents want for this community, for these children.” 

In a maintenance and operations override, voters allow a school district to increase its M&O budget by up to 15% over the state’s revenue control limit for the district. The increase is paid for by levying a secondary property tax on district residents and businesses. 

Overrides last seven years but begin to phase out after five years unless voters approve a renewal. Voters approved a 15% override for GPS in November 2019, which took effect for fiscal year 2020-21.  

Without renewal, that override will be cut to 10% for 2025-26 and 5% for 2026-27 before expiring in 2027-28. 

GPS uses the current override to support teacher and staff salaries, maintain safety and reduce class sizes. District officials said they intend to continue using the additional money in those ways if the override is renewed. 

The override is worth about $36 million to the district in the current budget, according to district documents. It has helped the district raise average teacher salary in the district 23% over the past four years, Associate Superintendent Bonnie Betz said. 

Four board members gave strong endorsements to the override. The fifth, Chad Thompson, did not speak on the matter but voted to put it on the ballot. 

“Voters allowing us to have this 15% override has given us local control to allow for competitive salaries for our teachers and other staff,” Board Member Lori Wood said. “That's the main thing that we've used it for, to attract the best highest quality teachers and staff to put in front of our students.” 

How the district would handle losing the override is uncertain, she said, but “it definitely would impact us, though.” 

President Sheila Uggetti noted it has become more difficult over the past 10 years to attract people into education. 

“We have been fortunate in Gilbert because people want to be here,” she said. “And I believe a lot of it has to do with the atmosphere here, the sense of community. But a big part of it, too, is what you get paid and our benefits. And I think that when you look at what we do with our benefits, we are outstanding there, but we need to continue. We don't want to lose anybody to another district just because of a higher amount of money.” 

Humpherys recalled a time when she sat on the board when the district did not have any override and how difficult it was for the district. 

She added the GPS portion of her property tax bill is quite small. 

“I was happy to pay that amount to ensure that the students in our community get the education that they need,” she said. “It's important. They’re our future leaders, but also it's an investment in my own home value because we know that when we have great schools, that makes the town attractive to businesses and people who want to move here.” 

In her presentation to the board, Betz said the district’s overall property tax rate and the portion attributable to the override has fallen during the past four years. 

GPS’ combined property tax rate of $5.6955 per $100 assessed valuation and its primary (3.3577) and secondary (2.3378) property tax rates are lowest among its neighboring districts — Chandler Unified School District, Queen Creek USD, Higley USD and Mesa Public Schools. 

Board Member Ronda Page thanked residents for always supporting the district. 

“There's so many components that go into it, such as the great parents that we have here and the great families that we have,” she said. “And this override is just one of the components that adds to making Gilbert Public Schools such an amazing district.” 

We would like to invite our readers to submit their civil comments, pro or con, on this issue. Email AZOpinions@iniusa.org. Tom Blodgett can be reached by email at tblodgett@iniusa.org or follow him @sp_blodgett on X.

Tom Blodgett
Senior News Editor | Gilbert

tblodgett@iniusa.org

Meet Tom
Tom Blodgett joined Independent Newsmedia, Inc., USA, in 2022, when the company acquired Community Impact Newspaper's Phoenix-area properties. Raised in Arizona, he has spent more than 35 years in journalism in the state.

Community: He has served as an instructional professional in the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication since 2005, and is editorial adviser to The State Press, the university's independent student media outlet. He also is director of operations for an 18U girls fastpitch softball team from Gilbert.

Education: Arizona State University with a BS in Journalism. 

Random Fact: He lived in Belgium during his freshman year of high school.  

Hobbies: Tweeting enthusiastically about ASU softball (season-ticket holder) and grumpily about other local sports (pessimistic fan).