Fountain Hills board hears FY24 budget details, approves proposed budget but delays levy decision

The Fountain Hills Unified School District board on May 9 held a public hearing on the proposed fiscal 2024 budget and approved the proposed budget while leaving a proposed adjacent-ways tax levy off the adoption vote.

Consultant Tyler Warren walked the board through legislative changes that affect district revenues, saying the Legislature exempted the district from the Aggregate Alternative Limit (AAL) for FY24 (citing SCR 1041(s)), which he said temporarily restores full budget capacity but will reappear as an issue in FY25. Warren also reported a one-time unrestricted state aid supplement for the district of $337,284 and a 2% minimum base-support increase worth about $152,912 to the district.

Warren showed the district's current 100-day ADM at 1,122.408 and a revised general-fund total of about $10,745,911. He said the proposed general budget represents a roughly 3.2% increase (about $358,000) over the revised numbers and that the district will carry forward an estimated $545,000 in contingency (4.9% of the budget).

The board debated one recommended local tax measure: a one-time adjacent-ways levy proposed to raise $300,000, which Warren described as funding for pedestrian and bus-lane repairs, ADA compliance and striping. Warren provided a homeowner example: a 20-cent one-time levy on a $400,000 home. Board members asked for clarification and time to review; the board approved the proposed budget for FY24 but left the levy decision for a later meeting.

Why it matters: The state changes and the one-time aid reshape local choices. The board approved the district's baseline spending plan but postponed a decision that would levy new local property tax for adjacent-ways improvements, keeping that tax question separate from budget adoption.

Next steps: Administration will bring the final adoption (including any levy items) back to the board at a later meeting scheduled within the adoption window.