Higley USD revises budgets, updates tax levy

By Lucie Flagg
Mail

The Higley USD governing board approved revised fiscal year 2022-23 budgets July 20, following the Arizona Legislature's finalizing of the state budget.

The board unanimously approved of the maintenance and operations, or M&O, budget, increasing it from the adopted $116.92 million to $119.11 million, while the capital budget increased from $23.1 million to $28.98 million. 

The Legislature passed the official state budget days after the Higley USD governing board finalized their fiscal year 2022-23 budgets June 28.  District Chief Financial Officer Tyler Moore then reevaluated the budget, proposing the revision presented to the board July 20.

Moore was not in attenance at the meeting but taped a video presentation for the board. In it,  he said the district's M&O budget will experience an increase of $2.19 million, approximately 1.87%, with the recent changes. 

"This budget revision takes into consideration the K-12 budget bill," Moore said. "It also still notes that there are no current exemptions to the AEL (aggregate expenditure limit)."

The AEL is a provision of the Arizona Constitution that caps the amount of money a district can spend, regardless of how much it is allocated by the state. The Legislature waived the limit for fiscal year 2021-22  in February.

Higley USD's capital budget will see a significant increase with the new budget, going up 25.4%. This revision also was made to reflect the state's K-12 budget bill, Moore said.

"This amount is higher than what we've tried to limit this fund to, but with the uncertainty of our November [bond] election, we are holding this money to address any immediate capital needs for our school facilities, pending the bond does not pass," Moore said. 

Average salaries for teachers for the  school year remain at $65,717.. Moore said this is the same amount from the adopted budget to the revised budget.

Following the budget revision, Moore was also able to present updated property tax rates to the governing board. 

The 2022-23 tax rate, with a combination of the primary rates, M&O override and outstanding bonds, sits at $6.2936 per $100 assessed valuation, a 0.44% decrease from the previous school year.

Moore expects a decrease to continue each year into the future. 

After Moore's presentation, governing board member Jill Wilson expressed her approval of the revisions. 

"I'm just glad to see that we're saving some money," she said. "I always like to see a little padding to our budget just in case."

The revised budget passed 5-0 later in the meeting. 

Along with the new budget, the governing board also approved an extension of the superintendent's contract.

The extension proposed that Dawn Foley, superintendent of Higley USD, continue to serve in her position through June 30, 2025. 

"Dr. Foley has been instrumental in making Higley better and better each and every day, and we are greatful for her," governing board President Amy Kaylor said. 

The contract was approved by the governing board in a unanimous vote.

Other items

• Assistant Director of Counseling Dena Morgan presented on the "Healthy Higley" Wellness Initiative, which will bring suicide prevention education to every school employee
• Higley Virtual Academy Principal John Dolan presented updates on the academy, including their enrollment numbers for the upcoming school year
  • Elementary enrollment: 23 students total (as of July 20)
  • Secondary enrollment: 60 students total (as of July 20)
• Ms. Angela Walker was  approved as the new dean of students at Sossamon Middle School.