Board certifies preliminary levy at maximum; final hearing set for Dec. 17

The St. Cloud Area School District Board of Education on Sept. 17 certified the district’s 2025 (pay 2026) preliminary levy at the maximum amount calculated by the Minnesota Department of Education. The motion to certify the preliminary levy passed on a board roll call with all members voting yes.

Board and administration framed the levy as a three‑part calculation covering the general fund, community education and debt service. Amy Scalarud, executive director of finance and business services, told the board the district’s levy dollar increase is about $1,658,000, a 4.7 percent rise in dollar terms driven primarily by increased debt service tied to the referendum the district approved last spring.

Scalarud said some changes offset the levy increase: long‑term facilities maintenance (LTFM) levy was intentionally reduced to balance earlier adjustments in the building lease levy, and certain excess debt service adjustments reduced the tax impact compared with earlier projections. Administration said the net dollar increase is roughly $500,000 lower than projected before the referendum — about a 20 percent reduction from prior estimates — and that the levy’s effect on a taxpayer’s rate will depend on final tax capacity numbers from local assessors.

Officials emphasized the difference between levy dollars and tax rate. Scalarud said the district does not set the tax rate and cannot yet determine the final rate because local tax capacity figures are not final; assuming a tax capacity movement similar to last year, administration estimated the levy would translate to less than a 1 percent change in tax rate for an average property. Board members asked for concrete household impact; administration referenced the district’s online tax calculator used during the referendum and noted previous estimates had shown a roughly $39.96 annual impact on a $250,000 home for a $65 million borrowing, and that the actual impact should be lower than that figure given the offsets.

Discussion at the meeting documented components driving changes: general fund increases were tied mainly to enrollment growth, the reemployment (regular unemployment) levy rose because pandemic‑era reimbursements no longer offset costs, and community education amounts shifted between levy and state aid categories so that total community education revenue was not reduced though its allocation changed between sources.

Action: Al Dahlgren moved to "approve certifying the preliminary levy at the maximum amount," Scott Andresen seconded, and the board approved the motion by unanimous roll call vote. Heather Weems, Scott Andresen, Natalie Copeland, Al Dahlgren, Zack Dorholt, Diana Fenton and Shannon Hawes were recorded voting yes.

Next step: administration will present the final levy certification at the board’s regularly scheduled December meeting. Scalarud announced the final levy certification hearing will be 6:30 p.m. Dec. 17, 2025; the district will provide time for public comment in accordance with truth‑in‑taxation requirements.

Why this matters: The levy decision sets the maximum property tax authority the district may use in fiscal planning; certifying the maximum preserves flexibility before final calculations and public hearings, and the debt service component reflects ongoing repayment of referendum borrowing.

Sources: Presentation and discussion at the Sept. 17, 2025 Board of Education meeting; Minnesota Department of Education calculations and truth‑in‑taxation presentation schedule.