RANCHO SANTA FE —While the RSF School District had its public hearing regarding the education code for the 2014-15 school year, it also approved its annual budget.
Superintendent Lindy Delaney explained to the board of trustees that the education code portion was a mandated public hearing.
“We have to make sure that the public has a chance to voice their opinion about textbooks following the education code,” she said.
The purpose of the public hearing is noted as a requirement of the governing board of the RSF School District. It must ascertain if every student has adequate school materials, including textbooks, for the State Board of Education curriculum. These subject matters include math, science, reading and language arts, history, and social science.
Next, Delaney was ready to discuss the budget.
Board president, Richard Burdge, commented how he thought that the property taxes had come in a little bit higher than previously budgeted.
Delaney told the board that their director of financing, Denise Stevenson, has traditionally been very conservative with the school budget.
She also pointed out how Stevenson was retiring from her position in the weeks ahead.
Stevenson, who was in attendance, asked to comment on the increased tax portion of the budget, which Burdge mentioned.
The board accepted her request.
She told Burdge that the 3.64 percent increase he was referring to was for the school’s assessed value.
“We won’t necessarily say that would be our increase in our property taxes,” she said. “We’ll wait and see what the county provides us with as far as a projection. But historically, we haven’t seen a direct correlation between those two. So I just want to caution you that we may not see 3.64 percent.”
The board wanted clarification as to why there was not a direct correlation.
Stevenson said she has not been able to get a really good, solid answer about that. Having said that, she said, historically those percentages don’t reflect that way.
She continued, “A lot of it has to do with the different years you would see people making adjustments to it especially when property values were going down.”
Stevenson wanted the board to know that the numbers that they see in July are based upon the assessed value at that time.
“And then as there are sales that go through or happen after that date, then you’re going to see some supplemental taxes that come through and that type of thing so that could be part of it as well.”
Burdge apologized for any complications, but Stevenson said she was happy to clarify that point for the board.
Following the approved budget, the board approved its consent calendar items.
