SPECIAL MEETING TO SET PROPERTY TAX REQUIREMENT Tuesday, September 27, 2022 7:00 PM High School Media Center as advertised in the Pilot-Tribune/ Enterprise and on fortcalhounschools.org Mike Bonacci: Present Josh Christensen: Present Mike Conrad: Absent Jon Genoways: Present Amanda Schrum: Present Kelli Shaner: Present SPECIAL MEETING TO SET THE PROPERTY TAX LEVY REQUIREMENT REGULAR AGENDA ROUTINE BUSINESS -Call to Order: The meeting was called to order at 7:00 PM. There were 4 administrators and 6 visitors present. -Roll Call: Present: Mike Bonacci, Josh Christensen, Jon Genoways, Amanda Schrum, Kelli Shaner. Absent: Mike Conrad -Note Nebraska Open Meeting Laws -Excused Absences: This motion, made by Shaner and seconded by Bonacci, to excuse Mike Conrad. Passed. Mike Bonacci: Yea, Josh Christensen: Yea, Jon Genoways: Yea, Amanda Schrum: Yea, Kelli Shaner: Yea -Approval of Agenda: Moved that the agenda be approved as presented. This motion, made by Shaner and seconded by Christensen, Passed. Mike Bonacci: Yea, Josh Christensen: Yea, Jon Genoways: Yea, Amanda Schrum: Yea, Kelli Shaner: Yea -Public Participation: The board received no public comment. SET THE PROPERTY TAX REQUESTS -RESOLUTION SETTING PROPERTY TAX REQUESTS: Moved that the board of education pass this Resolution Setting the Property Tax Request- WHEREAS, Nebraska Revised Statute 77-1632 and 77-1633 provides that the Governing Body of Fort Calhoun Community Schools passes by a majority vote a resolution or ordinance setting the tax request; and WHEREAS, a special public hearing was held as required by law to hear and consider comments concerning the property tax request; NOW THEREFORE, the Governing Body of Fort Calhoun Community Schools resolves that: 1. The 2022-23 property tax request be set at: General Fund: $5,176,042.00, Bond Fund: $817,270.00, Special Building Fund: $544,846.00, Qualified Capital Purpose Fund: $163,454.00, Undertaking Fund: 2. The total assessed value of property differs from last year's total assessed value by 7.68 percent. 3. The tax rate which would levy the same amount of property taxes as last year, when multiplied by the new total assessed value of property would be 1.15528 per $100 of assessed value. 4. Fort Calhoun Community Schools proposes to adopt a property tax request that will cause its tax rate to be 1.23 per $100 of assessed value. 5. Based on the proposed property tax request and changes in other revenue, the total operating budget of Fort Calhoun Community Schools will increase last year's budget by 11.74 percent. 6. A copy of this resolution be certified and forwarded to the County Clerk on or before October 15, 2022. Motion by Christensen, and seconded by Shaner to adopt Resolution #2022-1-4 Passed. Voting Yes: Mike Bonacci: Yea, Josh Christensen: Yea, Jon Genoways: Yea, Amanda Schrum: Yea, Kelli Shaner: Yea. Voting No: No one. Absent: Mike Conrad. Dated this 27th day of September, 2022. Board members asked about the levy hearing held the night before and Mr. Green said there was confusion as the law is not clear and it was not made apparent before the meeting there would be no discussions between the panel and the audience. It had no real value, people were hurt and he didn’t think the intent of the law was met. There were 10 or 12 who spoke from Fort Calhoun. His synopsis was most are upset about inflation, the overall valuation hike and taxes in the state citing those on fixed income, single family etc. The procedure and format of the hearing was discussed. Representatives from the various entities spoke and then there was about 1½ hours of comments. Since this was not a public forum, there was no feedback as was printed on the notices which led to confusion. The legislature is the one who passes these laws which entities must follow so people should contact their senators as school funding will never change with the current laws. Our increase in budget equals close to the cut in what we lost for state aid. It does include a 1.4¢ decrease for the bond fund levy. What we’re asking this year is what is needed. State aid goes down when valuations increase. This is the 7th year of a decrease for us. State laws also dictate how the assessor has to set the valuations. Shanna Welch asked if the overall increase in tax levy asking was because of the new law or common and was told the average over the past 5 years is 7.6%. The levy went down but because of the increase in valuation, tax asking increased. This increase in tax asking is equal to what was lost in state aid. Fort Calhoun receives about 55% of their revenue from property tax. About 82% of our budget is out of our control with fixed costs. There was discussion about costs for wages, benefits and utilities, textbooks and new teachers. Alan Welch stated he was disrespected by what has been said about the people at the meeting not understanding as there were no handouts or clear presentations. He asked about the increase why we “didn’t see this ahead of time” and suggested it should be easy to control as he was in the military and able to manage things like this. He is frustrated and would have liked Mr. Green to speak at the hearing also. It was an emotional meeting. They homeschool and furnish their own curriculum and materials so are paying twice. There were additional questions about the football field and option enrollment. Mr. Green said that operating costs went up, we receive about $2.6 million for our option students and the latest elementary addition and renovation was paid using this. Amanda Schrum addressed those in attendance that all these items have been discussed and gone over in the August and September meetings. The board had the same concerns and have gotten information, discussed and come up with what’s the best we can do for the schools and kids. The meetings are all advertised in the Blair Enterprise and the schools’ website and this is where people can come to be a part of the process. Jon Genoways commented that he believes very highly in public schools. At one time the schools were in financial straits and his board over the past several years has made smart fiscal decisions with people’s money to turn this around. We operate one of the top schools in the state and also the country. Our levy has gone down. Mr. Welch said he realizes its not the school that sets the valuations and spoke to Senator Ben Hansen about the bill needing to be fixed. He also asked why members were not present at the meeting and Mr. Green said there can’t be a quorum at the hearing. Mr. Welch suggested having at least one elected member present and said the attitudes of the panel were disrespectful. He also acknowledged there is a time constraint involved in all the meetings with the 9/30 deadline for filing. The school fiscal begins September 1st as dictated by law. -Proposal for Site Design and Plans for Football Field and Track Project: Moved that the board of education accept the contract, site design and plan for work to begin the track-football field project, from Lamp Rynearson not to exceed $54,000. This motion, made by Christensen and seconded by Shaner. After discussion the motion was amended to: Moved that the board of education accept the contract, site design and plan for work to begin the track-football field project, from Lamp Rynearson not to exceed $38,500. Passed. Mike Bonacci: Yea, Josh Christensen: Yea, Jon Genoways: Yea, Amanda Schrum: Yea, Kelli Shaner: Yea. Matt Tinkham explained the proposal regarding this project. The first quote is for the initial design, investigations, bids, collecting the bids and analyzing them. The second is for administrative services and engineering if the project moves forward. There is a separate amount from Geotech for soils, compaction and final testing. The first one for initial design included utility costs and buried gas, power and cable lines investigation. Elevations for live power lines will be taken to see if they can be worked around as relocations can be a significant cost. If accepted it will include sit downs with four rounds of plan review and from there bids will be sent out, tabulated and presented to the board. The final number will go to the board to see if they want to proceed. The design cost for the storage unit came in high and other options included using the general contractor at a later date or having a selected building company do the design, install, etc. for one price. The one presented is probably more substantial and expensive than what the board initially discussed/wanted and can be removed. Christensen asked if the building is taken off will the soils testing still be done and it will be. Mr. Welch asked about the premise for this project and what was wrong with the track. Mr. Green said the base of the track was crushed when overlaid in 2012 so huge cracks are appearing and have been fixed twice. Mr. Welch asked if the track could be done and not the field and was told yes but the field has bigger issues with the crown shifting and it is inverted. Grading and sodding would cost about a half million dollars to complete. The company will assure that all is built up to code and specifications. Welch’s asked about future budgets paying for this project and Mr. Green said the board has been setting aside funds for this in the 10+ years since the problem was noticed. The cost is already covered. Jon Genoways worried about state aid certification in February coming in lower than expected so was hesitant. He was told the cost wouldn’t be returned but the design and soil readings could be used for 5-7 years if they decide to do the work at a later date. Josh Christensen asked if the proposal could include all but the storage building and suggested changing the original motion to not include it. It would lower this proposal cost and there could still be a storage building built at a later date. He was assured that there would be a spot for the storage building. ADJOURNMENT: There being no further business Vice President Schrum adjourned the meeting at 8:00. ZNEZ PT 10-4-22
