NEW ULM – The New Ulm District 88 School board unanimously approved a $8,999,537 property tax levy, an increase of 3.22% from last year. This is an increase of $280,975.

The board previously discussed the levy increase during the Dec. 5 Truth in Taxation meeting.

Before the board approved this levy, they received the fiscal year audit report from Luke Greden from the Clifton Larson Allen (CLA) accounting firm.

Greden said CLA was issuing a clean clean audit for the district. No compliance issues were noted in the review.

In 2024, the school received $34.64 million in revenue. The state was the largest revenue source, responsible for 74% of revenue. Local property taxes made up about 15.88% of revenue.

Greden said the school saw a $4 million revenue increase this year. Most of this increase came from the state. Minnesota increased the district’s revenue by about $3 million. Federal funding increased by $700,000. Greden warned that next year federal funding will likely decrease as COVID funding ends.

The district’s expenses closely aligned with revenue at $34.63 million. The majority of expenses, 72.39%, went to salaries and benefits.

District 88’s unrestricted fund balance is sitting at $5.9 million at the end of 2024. This is an $800,000 increase from 2023. Greden said the district’s unrestricted fund is typically around $6 million and is at a healthy level.

The district restricted/reserved balance is currently at $2.14 million and saw a $430,000 increase in 2024. Greden said these funds are given by the state but restricted for specific purposes. Often these funds are spent immediately, leaving no increase to the fund balance. In other years, funds cannot be spent each year and are rolled over to another year. Greden said around $1.45 million of the $2.14 million is reserved for student activities and scholarships.

Operating Capital Fund balance was down this year to $112,843 from $481,501 in 2023. Greden said this year the district purchased a lot of curriculum tech devices, but this was typical for most schools.

Student enrollment is currently at 2,187 students. This is slightly down from 2023, but still up from the COVID years. In 2020, enrollment was at 2,153 students but fell to 2,132 students by 2021. Admission rebounded to 2,151 in 2022. Then in 2023, the district saw a 50-student spike, rising to 2,207 students. Greden said this was likely due to the closure of the Lafayette Charter School. Revenue is tied to enrollment numbers.

The next regular school board meeting will be held at 5 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 23 in the District Board room.