001Mhm. >> Mhm. >> Okay, the uh April 23rd uh 2026 Budget Committee meeting is now called to order at 6:31 p.m. Tonight's agenda, information packet, and a direct link to the district's YouTube channel are accessible on the Corvallis School District website. All public meetings are live-streamed on YouTube, and recordings are archived and available for viewing on the following business day. And I'm going to hand it over to Ryan for the welcome. Sorry, just getting situated. Um, can I borrow that for just a second? So, again, thank you for um volunteering as members of our budget committee. Um, it's an opportunity for our seven board members and seven community members to come together. Um, tonight is specifically around training for how the budget process will go, but generally speaking, um, knowing that, um, all of you
002are able to give us input and perspective as we work to develop a budget, um, and approve the budget is important. Um, and it's not lost on me that there's lots of ways you could be spending your time as volunteers in our community and choosing to participate in this way makes a big difference for our students and our schools. And so, I just want to start with appreciation and a thank you. Um, and then next, I'd like us to go around and introduce ourselves, um, who you are and how many years you've been either a member of our school board or a member of the budget committee. And Lou, since you're to my right, I'm just going to go with you and we'll just go counterclockwise. Okay. Uh, good evening, everyone. Uh, Lou Whitebear, I
003go by Lou. Um, excuse me. I use she/her pronouns and I've been on the board for 5 years. This is my third year as board chair. Uh, Kevin Riley, community member, my second year, uh, on this, uh, committee and, uh, he/him pronouns. I'm Shauna Tomeny, uh, co-vice chair on on the school board along with Trista and my pronouns are she/her and I've been serving for, gosh, going into my fifth year. I am Cassandra Inman. I go by Cassie and she/her pronouns and this is my second year on the, um, on this committee. Good evening, everybody. Uh my name is uh Sammy Yadab Drobo. I believe this is about my ninth year on the school board and 11th on the budget committee. Uh my name is Chris Blacker, uh he/him pronouns. This is my introductory meeting
004on any kind of committee or board, although I spent a lot of time on the other side of the aisle over there, so. Hi, I'm Bernie Wong, he/him. Uh I've been on the board a little bit over a year and a half. Uh this is my second um uh budget committee. Good evening, I'm Carla Ho Ah. My pronouns are she/her. This is my first meeting as a member of the budget committee. Hi, I'm Kim Nelson, uh she/her, and I am the school board secretary. This is my fifth year. And second year for committee. Hi, everyone. Melissa Harder, assistant superintendent. This is my seventh year as assistant superintendent in the Corvallis School District. I use she/her pronouns. Hi, I'm Seth Purcell. This is my first year on the budget committee. Hi, I'm Trice Jones, co-I share
005along with Shana. I use she/her pronouns, and this is my ninth year on the school board and my 10th budget committee. Hi, I'm Jessie Monster, and I go by she/her pronouns, and this is my second year on the budget committee. Hi, everyone. I'm Lauren Wolfe. This is my third um round of budgeting at this district as the budget officer. Hi, I'm Chris Hawkins. This is my third year on the school board, and I use she/her pronouns. Yeah. I've actually been on the school board for 6 years. I just wanted to make sure I clarified that, not five. It would I blame it on starting in January 2020. I'll just blame it on that year. Fair. Absolutely fair. Um and again, I'm Ryan Noss. I'm the superintendent. I use he/him pronouns. Um this is my um
00610th um year in the school district as a superintendent. So, this is the 10th budget committee process that I've been a part of here in Corvallis. And again, welcome, and thank you for your participation. With that, I'm going to turn it over to Lauren, who will lead us through the majority of this evening. Okay. Is my microphone good where it is? Okay. Um if we can get the slides up, um we have already started um you can go forward. Uh just for the agenda, we did introductions. We will review our meeting norms and have a bit of a um orientation to the budget committee, but also to this year's budget cycle specifically. Um and then there will be time for um discussion or requests for um information. Um at this point, the budget is not
007released. It is not complete. We We have the data about 98 point I would say percent finalized at the end of today. Um so, I won't be answering questions specific about the actual like budget in detail, but I can answer um broad questions or um help with anything that would provide better text about the process or anything like that. Next slide, please. You can skip that one. Okay. Um so, for our committee norms, um as we review at the beginning of every process, these are adapted from um the the school board norms. Um and so, I will just uh take a minute to to read these out loud to sort of um set us up for um success during this process. The committee will commit to conducting its work with care and respect. The committee
008will engage in relevant and topical discussion based on the agenda topics. As a reminder, this is about the budget, not about other parts of district operations. The committee members will actively listen to those sharing their points of view to facilitate full understanding and the possibility of changing viewpoints. The committee will value public comment as an important way to hear from students, families, staff, and community members as is essential to the work of the district, and the committee will be cognizant of scarcity of resources and time when requesting action from information requests that demand significant staff effort to fulfill. We'll be aligned with district goals and approved by the committee chair. So, we won't have a chair for this meeting, so Lou will be serving as the chair of this meeting, but then we will elect
009a committee chair at the next meeting. Next slide, please. This is just a a brief reminder of where we're at in the the budget cycle, so it really does overlap, which is a bit hard to illustrate here, but on in the bottom right is where we are at tonight, which is our first budget committee orientation, but as you can see, a lot of this process starts all the way back in September. And so, the remaining orange dots, if you go around the the circle clockwise, we have two dates for meetings. If we need both of them, we typically do, so we ask that as the committee members you plan to be here on that that second night. And then, we will then take the budget for hearing at the June 18th board meeting, which is
010our last um board meeting for this school year. So, as a reminder, um our fiscal year ends June 30th, so we have to have appropriations authorized by that date um in order to open our our next fiscal year. Can I add something to that? Yes. Um just going back one slide. Um so, one of the things that's unique in our system is that um our budgets are uh biennial budgets, and so some years Yeah, last year as an example, the budget committee is adopting a budget before we get our final numbers from Salem. Um however, we have a pretty firm understanding of what the number is most likely to be during that process. This year is not one of those years, and so we do know what the budget allocation from the state is. Um
011and that is helpful as you work through this process to have some um information that you know that you don't know every time you go through this process, which again is helpful. Um and then the roles and the responsibilities of the of the committee. So, the budget committee, as we see here, has um equal members of um citizens as well as the board members. Um we are one citizen lower than board members because we have a vacancy um for a spot that hasn't been filled. Uh so, if we do have anybody who is on the uh DEI committee and would love to join us next year, that would be great. Um we're still seeking a member from that committee. Um So, local budget law is really designed to um ensure that there's standard procedures across
012public entities, um and that there's the requirement for public input, um and so that's really what we're here to do in this committee. So, in sort of a rolled-up version, what the committee does is review the proposed budget that is brought to you by Ryan and I at the next meeting. You listen to the community input, which there will also be that opportunity for community to provide comment at the next meeting, and then you can discuss and recommend changes to ensure the alignment with district goals, and those are our school school board goals. And so if you are unfamiliar with those, um, I would suggest maybe reading through that before the next meeting because that really guides the process, and we will overview go over that more in our next meeting as well. Um, also
013then you must formally approve a balanced budget as a recommendation to the board, and ultimately the board has the authority for the final adoption of, um, the budget and then setting those appropriations at the legal level. Okay. So, um, in December typically we start, um, I will will bring forward a draft of budget parameters. You should all have a copy in front of you, um, of that. So, I think it would just be helpful if we, um, you can see that there are some, uh, bolded categories, and we can just go around and read them. So, I will start, um, and then, Chris, if you could take the next paragraph. Um, the budget parameters are general guidelines that the district intends to honor through its budget process. They set forth the ideals that the district's
014decision makers will adhere to as they develop the budget through an understanding that these decisions have long-term consequences. Budget parameters are important for creating a shared understanding of the overarching values that underpin budget development. Unlike the district fiscal policies, which tend to be more technical, budget parameters uh can be understood and appreciated by all stakeholders, including the public. Student outcomes should drive the budget process. The budget process should be driven by the vision to create exceptional learning experiences where all students learn at high levels. Clear goals for student outcomes should guide how resources are allocated, how progress is tracked, and how budget decisions are made to prioritize programs and strategies. Provide every student with equitable access and opportunity. The district is committed to transforming educational systems to be diverse, equitable, and inclusionary in our decisions
015and actions, and create belonging for our all students, staff, and families. The budget process should honor the rightful presence of identities and lived experiences so that every student belongs and feels safe and supported to thrive socially and academically. In order to achieve educational equity for each and every student, the district shall make every effort to provide all students with equitable access to high-quality curriculum, support, facilities, and other resources, even when this means differentiating resource allocation. Decisions should be informed by data. Decisions that impact the future of student learning should be centered on evidence of what works. Qualitative and quantitative data on student outcomes, both in terms of student achievement and overall student educational experience, should inform the decision-making process. Base resourcing decisions on the total value created for students. The budget process should seek to
016allocate resources in a way that creates relevant and engaging learning experiences for students that support their short- and long-term goals towards an evolving future. Prioritize strategies and programs with proven cost-effectiveness. Strategies and programs that have proven to produce larger gains and close the opportunity gap in learning for all student groups relative to their cost should be given priority for funding. Strategies and programs that are chosen should be implemented fully and faithfully, even if that means fewer strategies or programs are implemented. Make student-centered decisions. Budget decisions should be based on what is best for students, not adults. In some cases, there's pressure to develop a budget that puts the interests of adult stakeholders above the interests of students. That priority should be reversed. Critically exact re-examine patterns of spending. Past patterns of spending may no longer
017be relevant given changing needs of the community and student body. Hence, the budget process should encourage review of past spending decisions and critically change where necessary. The district should develop and implement a program review and sunset process to identify and discontinue programs that are not achieving their objective or that are simply not as effective as available alternatives. Take a long-term perspective. The district will not be able to make large changes to its educational strategy and resource allocation patterns within a single year. Further, a consistent application of proven strategies over a multi-year period will deliver better results. Therefore, to the degree possible, the district should develop and adhere to a multi-year funding plan for its strategies with the goal of fully funding and realigning resources where necessary to fund high priority elements of the strategies. Additionally,
018the district recognizes that its ability to maintain consistent education strategies is subject to the stability of external funding sources. To ensure fiscal resilience, the district must actively monitor and respond to volatility in state and federal funding, such as forecasted state budget shortfalls and potential reductions in federal program support resulting from legislative changes. Because these external shifts can impact the district's capacity to sustain programs, the multi-year funding plan must remain adaptable. The district will prioritize the protection of high priority strategies and remain prepared to adjust resource allocations should funding instability threaten the long-term delivery of student-centered outcomes. Engagement, transparency, and accountability. Effective budgeting requires valid information about the true costs of serving students and the outcomes produced for students. Engage student and staff voice in the budget process, fostering identity and agency. Make performance data readily
019available. The budget process should be informed by valid and reliable data on fiscal and academic performance. Consider all direct and indirect expenditures in evaluating the cost of educating students. Use a consolidated budget that considers all available funds, acknowledge constraints on categorical categorical spending, but consider all available funds to make the most impact with available resources. Be clear on what actions are being funded to help the district reach its board goals, not just line items and board expenditure categories. Thank you. So, this process um as far as the budget parameters, we bring these forward um at a public session in December um at a meeting where um we hold public comment. And much like we do when we do board policy, um and so these are to help us uh stay grounded in what we should
020be focusing on through this process. Okay. So, next um I will pause um so if if there's any questions about the process before we get into the assumptions um about anything we've covered thus far. Just make sure your microphone's on. Just one quick question. There's a lot of talk about um data, both qualitative and quantitative, both in the decision should be informed by data, and also in the back under um engagement, transparency, and accountability. Uh make performance data readily available. I'm just curious if that will be like an addendum to the budget, or and I don't think in the last few years that it's been kind of correlated with what line items and budget choices have been um related to the academic performance. Is that something that we're going to be introducing this year, or
021Um we use data in the decisions on what we fund all the time, so it's hard to uh it might not uh it doesn't necessarily fit to a function category in the budget. Usually it would be multiple. Like for example, um I can think of things like um the family support. So, counselors, mental health, um student and family advocates, social workers, all of those would have a different function within the budget. Um and so, but all of those uh people work together in for similar goals and outcomes for kids, for example. Um, and so if there's specific, um, requests for data that are, um, about like academic data and how and what are the initiatives connected to that, um, we can bring that data forward. Some of it, what we're trying to focus on is
022like a new, uh, next layer in our, um, budget development is tying those back to the board goals. The board goals then have data metrics tied to them. Um, and so those are the things that we are using to move forward those board goals which have, if you read through them, um, the annual ones for our schools typically will have, like say, I'm making one up, but um, at Garfield they're going to improve their, uh, their third-grade reading scores by 3%. So then that's a part of a board goal and we can tie our budget expenditures back to the board goal in that way. Does that help? It absolutely does. I'm I'm thinking of, um, I believe Tina Kotek recently in that committee recently announced, uh, metrics they'll be using to, um, try to judge
023the districts with the possibility of taking over 25% of the budget if we're not meeting the goals. I think fourth-grade reading, eighth-grade math. I I don't have the whole list in front of me, but I'm wondering if we can get data on our academic achievement on those specific goals so that we're prepared for the future and what the Oregon state will be looking at. Um, I haven't dove into those very heavily, but I would assume that they align with, um, all of the metrics that we are being, like that our students are being tested on through that standardized state testing. And so all of that information is already reportable in the budget document. In the back, there's school-specific pages that report on all of those different metrics. Um, third-grade reading, uh, eighth-grade algebra, graduation on
024track to graduate, um, ninth I don't know. Ninth grade on >> Ninth grade on track. Um, and and four year graduation four year graduation. Yeah. All of those accountability measures that you're talking about are aligned to the integrated guidance program, which we do through the state of Oregon. And every year, um, our director of SGENI will bring that forward as far as how we're doing in those metrics. I used to do that for the last several years. Yeah. So, and I would also say that that data is coming out all year long and used in our, um, presented at public meetings all year long. So, um, in the actual budget meeting session, we may not dive into every piece of data to align, um, to the board goals because we are here to um, approve
025the budget, but we're using data to inform those decisions all year long. So. Okay. Anyone else? Okay. Um, so we will, uh, tap in a little bit to the budget assumptions that are used, um, for what you will see, um, in I don't know, a few weeks. I'm not sure. Time is hard for me right now. Um, but when you get the budget document, this is really what it will be based on. Um, and so we will just go into some of those starting at more of a high level and going down. Um, so first important to, uh, recognize our our statewide, um, economic, um, scenario. So, this information, um, if you would like to dig into it more is all from the Oregon economic and revenue forecast that was published, um, in March. And
026so this talks a lot about the state overall, but there's pieces in this that are very specific and, um, tied directly to, uh, public K-12 funding. So, the first one is really the the general fund revenues, and I'm talking about the state's general fund, not Corvallis School District's general fund. Um, but if you remember back in December there was a pretty rough economic forecast. Was it December or was it uh September? It was the one that was coming out in November. Okay. So, that one pretty rough. This is the follow-up to that um release. And so, from that we saw a a bit more of a a promising landscape. Um our general fund, the state's general fund resources increased um by about 121 million since that December forecast. Um but they are still about million
027below what the the close of session projections had them at. Um so, the revenue on personal income taxes, um which is the primary source for the general fund, was uh revised um down another 43 million for the current biennium. Um and a lot of that is tied to um our our slower uh than expected growth in wage and salary income um for the tax year of 2024. And so, if you again go into the the report, um it shows the uh unemployment rates in Oregon and how those have continued to climb at a rate uh much faster than um the national average. And so, many of those things are impacting what um is happening at the state level. So, in juxtaposition to that, um the corporate income tax um has been persistently pretty strong um
028in Oregon. And so, they revised that prediction um projection up another about 112 million dollars during um this session. So, the next thing is um to then that all feeds into the the dedicated funding that's specifically for K-12s. Um and so, one of those that you'll hear a lot about is the corporate activity tax. Um and so those taxes specifically are dedicated to the student success act um that we began that was approved in 2018, I think it was. Um and so those revenues have beat out projections, which is positive for the student success act grant and the grants that are tied to that at the state level. Um so that was another uh I think plus just under 20 million in that fund. Um and so that has a pretty healthy um uh fund
029balance at the end of um the quarter, but that's very specific funds for that um that grant only. The next one is the um marijuana revenue. And so the the recreational marijuana taxes also um support the state school fund. It's not the only thing, but it's a portion of the state school fund. Um and so those have um been revised down about 3.4 million dollars or uh just over 1% for the current biennium due to apparently plateauing consumption. Um and uh just which is then you know, it's the supply and demand factor. Um and so uh less sales, less less tax um on those. So that is something that is in fact uh impacting the funds related um to K-12. And then as we've talked about probably at nauseam at this point, um uh there's
030been a lot of demographic shifts in our state. Um and really the most critical concern for school districts in Oregon and and what you'll see many many districts talking about is just the changing age structure um in Oregon's population. So in the in this report, they reported that school age population, so that age 5 to 17 is how they measure that in all of the data sources, um is expected to decline by an average of 1.4% annually um due to the number of births. I found this very interesting in the report is that they said for since the first time since the early 1980s, deaths outnumber births in Oregon um which means all future population growth will really rely on migration um in and out of the state, either way. So, obviously um as you'll
031hear many districts talking about, this is impacting enrollment um and consistent just declines um which the state school fund is a pot of money and divided by the total number of students in the state of Oregon. Um and so, in theory, there's potential for the dollar amount per student to go up, but this becomes very problematic when we are um going into legislative sessions because the argument um has been from some that if we have less students and we are continuing to get money, um why do you need more money if you're serving less kids? Um and so, as the as at the state level, it's really important that we um we stay vigilant on that message and talk about um just the cost of actually supporting um students and their families and and just
032because there's maybe less students um doesn't mean we have enough resources when we've been chronically underfunded. So, um that is obviously going to be something we continue to talk about for um probably a decade, really, um if if not longer, um depending on how things change. Um and then the last thing is just the the budget reserves and again, this is at the state level, not uh Corvallis School District specific, um but we do have two uh reserve accounts that are can be tapped by education, the rainy day fund, and then also the education stability fund. So, those both are combined are are set to reach just under 10% of the general fund revenues at the end of by the biennium, which is positive because what the the economists are saying is that that amount
033in reserves could help us weather a mild to moderate um economic recession if that was to happen. They also talk about the the probability of an economic recession and so it's currently estimated at 20%, I which is about a modest moderate recession scenario. And they're predicting Oregon can see employment loss of just under 50,000 jobs and a personal income level of about 2% under the national baseline. So, there's like through the report, 55 pages, there's some positive news and there's also some some concerning factors as well. Next slide, please. So, how does that all play into what we are talking about here? Um we at the the state level we have a few main sources of revenue. The primary one being the state school fund, which we talked about how those state general fund funds
034that. And so, we are in year two of the biennium, which Ryan alluded to, and so what that means is that we know what the state allocation is for the state school fund um through June 30th of uh 2027. And so, the way that the um state school fund is set up is for uh funds to be released in a uh 49% of them released in year one and 51% of funds released in year two. That is supposed to address um the just general accepted um generally accepted concept that you always have higher expenses in year two um primarily based on on salary um costs for for K-12. And so, we what that looks like um is an increase of about 2% 2.9% over the current year or an additional $2.3 million from the state
035school fund. The student investment account, which is a part um one part of that student success act along with the high school success um uh grant. So, the the student investment account, an increase of um 2.5% or one uh or about $149,000. So, just for context purposes, um the average cost for one full-time certified teacher in our district um is just under $180,000. So, we are receiving increase in that fund um but just in that that one grant alone wouldn't even fund um an additional certified staff member in our district. And then, the high school success um grant, we're also receiving an increase um of 4% or about 79 uh thousand dollars. So, the state school fund, as we talked about before, is is really based on enrollment. So, um there's this um information again
036as we we have shared out a few times. Um so overall our enrollment um we're projecting a decrease of 179 kiddos um next year and that's largely related to um we still have those bigger classes um in high school. So next year our last largest class um will be sophomores in high school. So um as those grades keep moving through the system and we're and we're having uh kindergarten classes around three I would say it's looking like between 325 and 350 for the next several years. Um just that that straight across math um automatically uh assumes a decrease in enrollment. So um just as a uh additional information on this, this is not just straight everybody moves from kindergarten to first grade. Um we move we use birth rate data to project for kindergarten um
037and then we also use um use what we call cohort survival rate which is not my favorite term but I don't know that's not what that's what it's called um to to see how people move through the system. Uh for example, we generally get a large uptick um in ninth grade um of students moving in and so if you would like to read more about the methodology behind the enrollment projections um that is all written up in the long-range financial plan that was published uh earlier this year and is available on our website and it talks about the methodology behind this specifically. Okay. Um as we talked about I think uh a little bit when we we talk about that uh 49 51 split, a lot of that has to do with um that public
038school districts are uh uh, generally uh have at least one if not uh, multiple um, employment contracts and so um, this is these are specific assumptions for the budget. Um, and so for our certified group um, the contract ends with our certified group um, on June 30th of this year so we open negotiations um, and we've met like maybe three or four times, I can't remember at this point. Um, so we're we're in that process now but the current contract ends so we don't have um, specific uh, data to use as far as a salary table for those positions. So we assume a 6% average per FTE increase. So I just want to be clear that that's not a 6% COLA. Um, what that is is just the average cost per FTE so that um,
039and that can be impacted by the number of people you have um, like if the more positions you have on one end of the schedule or not, that that can impact that. So that is our assumption that we've been using in our long range financial plan um, and that's that's um, based on historical data as well. For our classified oh, so for that group too, when we talk about contracts um, it's also important to know that different positions work different number of calendar days. So all of our certified um, work have a 191-day contract out of a 260 um, day calendar not calendar year but work calendar year. Um, so our classified employees, they work anywhere between 181 days. So for example, like our educational assistants, they work 181 days and then um, another position
040on the classified um, schedule um, could be one of our maintenance staff and they work 260 calendar days. Um, we already have a uh, negotiated contract with them that um, doesn't end until the in June 2027. And so we're in the third year of that contract. So those employees will receive a 4% Cola plus plus an additional 4.5% step on the schedule. Um and then for our non-rep um administrative contract as the name suggests, we are not represented by a union group. Um but in our district, we still do have a group uh contract agreement that we sort of negotiate ourselves. Um other districts sometimes all those positions just negotiate with the superintendent one-on-one, but we have a agreement here um that largely the language largely matches that of um our other groups, but um
041all of our non-rep positions either work somewhere between 200 and 260 days. So all of us in the room here right now that are on that contract work 260 days. We have some positions like I'm trying to think who some like our maybe our mental health supervisor or some of those other positions that work not a full calendar, but most non-rep are working the 260 calendar days. Um our contract generally will mirror whatever is the the lower Cola between the classified and the certified because we don't have a certified contract agree to it at this point. Um our contract has a 4% Cola and then a 2.5% step. Um something to note too with the different contracts. So I I think our certified contract right now and there's 18 steps on it. Our classified contract
042is pretty similar to that um just under 20, I think ish. And the non-rep um contract ends at seven steps. So most of our non-rep staff um have more than 7 years experience, so most aren't um, they're just experiencing the 4% cola because they've maxed out on the steps. So, all of the schedules are different, which makes for fun, um, projections. Okay. This one should scare you. Um, if you look at the table there, so I included, um, just just for context, um, I would say this year, for this budget cycle that we're currently talking about, um, I am not panicked because I had that information prior to doing this, um, budget because we knew uh, our the rates are set by annual biannually, and so we the rates that we have for PERS, uh,
043next year are the same that we have for this year. But, what you can see here that is the concerning part is in the '23-'25 biennium, uh, for we'll just pick, um, the tier one, tier two rates. It was 16.13%. Um, the '27-'29 biennium advisory rates came out, and those are at 27.74%. So, that's, you know, 28 cents of every dollar we pay out to tier one and tier two employees, um, we then pay to PERS. That is just a portion of it. Um, we also as a district in our negotiated contracts, um, pay what is called the pickup, um, and so that's an additional 6% um, benefit. Some districts, the employees pay it, some they share that cost, um, but either way it would all kind of feed back into the salary, um, placement,
044and so that's a factor that we look at with when we're comparing our contracts just to see like if a pickup is included or not and adjusting for that. The UAL is the unfunded actuarial liability, um, and so we are uh then picking that is decreasing cuz our last bond payment, our debt service payment on that um ends in June of 2028. No, December of 2027. Um and so, we are decreasing that rate based on the balance of funds in in that. So, we redirect a portion of payroll, that 5%, um to then go to the debt service fund, and then the debt service fund um has to last through the the length of that um debt issuance. So, that was issued in 2002, um and we are about to the end um of that.
045And so, while that piece sounds positive, um the flip side of that is that when we sold those bonds, um we sold them at a premium. So, we Everybody received different amounts based on how much they sold, the timing of when they sold them, all of those factors. But, when we sold those bonds, um we sold we borrowed against um Try to explain this. So, when we borrowed the that money to buy down our debt service, we created a side account with PERS. That money has then been gaining interest, and then they've been amateur amateurizing that amount over the term of the um the debt issuance. And so, that we have used to sort of buy down our rates every year and offset that cost. So, when you see those high jumps in rates, so
046for example, 20 um percent up to that 27% um that has a lot to do with the fact that we no longer have money in that reserve account to buy down those rates. We were really fortunate that we sold uh I can't remember the exact dollar amount, but we received um we made about double on our bond sale. So, we sold those at a really good premium um and were able to end in a really good spot and sold uh and saved millions of dollars over the term of of that um issuance. And that's coming to an end, and what we know right now is that the market is not in a position where it's probably um possible that we will be able to issue any further debt related to PERS um anytime soon. So,
047those are specific pension obligation bonds um in the market and and the sale on those would be really risky right now. Um so, we're continuing to watch that. Obviously, we have um advisors and people that we work with that are much more knowledgeable about PERS than I am um that help inform those decisions, but at this point, it's looking like I would I would prepare to at least um accept those very high rates for at least probably um the next biennium or two after this one. So, this one is not necessarily a red flag at this moment um for this current budget cycle, but it will be for the for the one after that. And um so, you'll hear and I'm sure you'll hear in the media over the next 18 months about districts who
048had side accounts because many districts had side accounts about the same time um and that those side accounts coming to an end and the implications of that on PERS. Um so, just know that we did have one um that will be coming to an end like many districts around us, but as you hear and pay attention to the media, that's just what you'll be looking for is information on PERS side accounts. I think it was like around um sold at that time. Um some lost money and and some uh made quite a bit of money at like as we did. When I looked over our latest statement, I was and I can take zero credit for it because I was not here in 2002. Um but it was a good it was a good decision
049at that time and I can't confidently say that it would be a good decision to do that again yet. Okay. Question? Yeah. Just a clarifying question. Those percentages you were showing was the percentage of the overall total budget, all funds included, that have to go to PERS? No? Can you explain what that means? The Yeah, so that's the percentage on every dollar payroll. So right now, I assume um so for every dollar I pay out of a Tier 1 employee, I will have to budget about 21 cents just for um their PERS contribution rate, then another 6% for the pickup, and then another 5. 45% um to pay off the bond issuance debt. So our our total payroll rates, so for every dollar we pay, we pay uh just under 40 cents in in payroll
050expenses, which are PERS, FICA, Medicare, workers compensation, um the state taxes that we pay, um and then unemployment. And it looked like the contract expires in the this June, I believe. So that could either go up or down. It could even get worse theoretically. The PERS rate? >> No, the contract with the state the actual salaries. Yes, the salaries could change with our certified group based on They will change based on what they are this year. Like I don't There's no nothing on the table that suggests we're freezing salaries. Um so they will change. They will increase, but by what percent we haven't determined that yet cuz we're not there in negotiations. Um so the this budget what I'm talking about now is all about assumptions. Um and so we have assumptions that on the
051salary changes, these PERS amounts specifically will not change based on contract negotiations. Okay. Um the next piece and and this again, as I mentioned, um being in negotiations with our certified staff, this I will I will mention that every time we talk about um any dollars tied to certified staff because we don't have a contract. So, this can change. But, in our budget, um we have a budget assumption of $1,465 per month, which is an increase of $50 per month, um from the current monthly contribution that we give a full-time employee for medical benefits. Um but, that is not something that is settled in our current negotiations, so that could change. Um our classified will be Oh, that's not correct. I'm sorry. Um the amount is a little higher than that. I think it's 16
0521625, maybe. Um sorry, that that amount is not correct. Um the classified amount is 1465. I know that for certain. Um and that is um an increase again of $50 per month. That was in our contract. And then the non-represented and administrative staff, um our that contribution is 1725 a month, which is again an additional $50. That has been the standard that we've done for a very long time. Um so, that's a fairly safe assumption, but um could change. And again, that those are amounts for full-time employees. Those are prorated in different ways depending on what an employee's FTE is. Um and did you look up that one? Absolutely. Okay. 75 would be that the assumption for certified. Sorry, that was a I think a copy-paste typo. Um 1525 for the