Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
Warsaw School Board held two public hearings Monday.
During the 2027 budget hearing, Stephen Boyer, chief financial officer, gave an explanation of the five funds the school corporation has, what they fund and how they’re funded, whether it’s from the state or property taxes.
The school corporation advertised its 2027 budget at $109,635,213. The rainy day fund is $1 million. The debt service fund is $18,687,194. The referendum debt is $2,681,500. The education fund is $58,965,287. The operations fund is $28,301,232.
The tax rate is at $1.1097 per $100 of assessed value, which is a 21 cent increase from last year. Boyer said not to expect the tax rate to stay at $1.1097 as Kosciusko County has already released their net assessed values for 2027 and they are certifying. Due to the net assessed value the county has determined, Boyer presented what the school corporation’s budget was expected to be certified at.
The school corporation’s anticipated 2027 budget totals $108,635,213. The rainy day fund is $1 million. The debt service fund is $17,687,194. The referendum debt fund is $2,581,500. The education fund is $58,965,287. The operations fund is $28,301,232.
The anticipated tax rate will be $0.9036 per $100 of assessed value.
There were no public comments during the hearing.
The board will be asked to adopt the 2027 budget during its October meeting.
Earlier in the meeting, the board also held a public hearing for additional appropriations and bond resolutions.
Board President Heather Reichenbach said according to Indiana code, before a school corporation can appropriate any proceeds from general obligation bonds, they have to hold a public hearing. The bond proceeds will be used for construction, renovations and improvements for Lakeview Middle School, Gateway Education Center, Edgewood Middle School and the Warsaw Area Career Center, HVAC improvements, other maintenance improvements throughout the corporation and the purchase of technology, vehicles and equipment.
Boyer said over the summer, the school corporation had hearings for the proposed project that will have an issue amount not to exceed $143 million.
The additional appropriation resolution provides the approval of the school corporation to appropriate the funds of the proposed projects in the same year the general obligation bonds are issued. The resolution specifies any such funds will be placed in a school corporation construction fund, separate from all other school corporation funds and it will be spent only on the specified projects.
The board also approved the final bond resolution, which Boyer says contains the maximum interest rate, the cost of the project and other financial terms of the general bonds.
The board also approved two more bond-related resolutions.
Boyer said the two resolutions gives the school corporation an opportunity to refund their 2016 and 2018 general obligation bonds if the markets are favorable for them to capture interest savings. The resolutions do not obligate the school corporation to refund the general obligation bonds.
For the 2016 general obligation bonds, at least $100,000 worth of interest savings would have to be generated to potentially pursue refunding the bonds, he said. With the 2016 bonds, the school corporation has about $26 million to pay off through 2035.
With the 2018 general obligation bonds, the school corporation has $11 million left in payments, so if the interest savings is at least $50,000, Boyer said the school corporation would consider refunding those general obligation bonds.
There were no public comments during the hearing.
