School Board eyes $28.9 million budget
By Neal A. Shipman
Farmer Editor
While the McKenzie County Public School District No. 1 school board has until Oct. 10, to certify its tax levies, the board pretty much finalized its 2019-20 budget during its regular meeting on Monday, Sept. 9.
According to Steve Holen, district superintendent, the school board is eyeing a budget of $28,926,719 million for the coming year, an increase of just over $5.8 million from last year.
Holen says that the bulk of the budget increase is attributed to the district hiring 20 new positions, including additional classroom teachers, assistant principals, school nurses and social workers from last year. In addition, the district’s budget includes debt payments for improvements at the old elementary school, the new high school, and the new elementary school that is being constructed.
“We told the taxpayers that we would need an additional 13 mill increase for the new elementary school project,” stated Holen. “But the good news is that we are going to be able to keep that mill increase lower because of the increase in the district’s taxable valuation.”
For the full story, subscribe to the McKenzie County Farmer