Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) School Board members were presented with a 2021 spending plan totaling $259.25 million dollars, a 3.37% increase over the 2020 budget.  Chief Financial Officer Cecilie Nunn told the board the student population number is down about 400 this school year, mostly at the kindergarten level.  Nunn attributes the decline to COVID.

Since state funding is largely tied to the number of students enrolled, there will be a deficit in the education fund provided by the state.  Nunn says a budget study task force would be formed, essentially the same group used in previous years to close budget deficits.  Nunn did not indicate how large she expects the shortfall in the education fund to be.

The school district will receive more than $22 million in 2021 from a referendum, passed in 2016 and enacted in 2017, that will expire at the end of calendar year 2023.  Nunn says the board will need to begin the process of deciding whether to ask the voters to renew the current referendum rate or ask for another amount.  The referendum money goes to pay staff salaries and benefits.

The 2021 school property tax rate is projected to decline one-half of one percent compared to 2020….at 1.245.  The drop is due to an increase in property valuations, according to Nunn.

The board was reminded that the state legislature will be enacting a two-year state budget in the 2021 session and the money for education will not likely be known until April next year.

No one chose to speak at the budget public hearing, as no one spoke at the public hearings for two bonds funding renovation and maintenance projects for school buildings.

The board is slated to enact the 2021 budget at the October 28 meeting.