Referendum 2024

• Operating levies help fund a district's day-to-day operations, which include salaries and benefits, classroom materials (textbooks, technology), utility bills, and other routine expenses. These levies must be approved by voters. 
• Revenue from the operating levy will help stabilize the district’s finances and reduce the projected budget gap. It will also limit future budget reductions over the next several years.
• The new operating levy began in 2025-26 and adds approximately $1.165 million in new revenue.

• A school district’s general fund covers the day-to-day operational costs of running a school district, including salaries and benefits, classroom materials (textbooks, technology), utility bills, and other routine expenses.
• Our general fund has incurred significant expenses for deferred maintenance, at nearly $2 million per year. 
• Many maintenance expenses are due to wear and tear and items needing replacement, including plumbing, HVAC (heating and cooling system), and roofing replacement. These maintenance and repair items have begun to exceed our dedicated funding for long-term facility maintenance, and we have increasingly needed to use our general fund to cover these costs. 
• ​​​​On Tuesday, November 5, 2024, our community approved a $30 million facility bond referendum.

The facility bond projects include:

• Renovations and improvements at all district facilities
  • Replace broken furniture and improve learning spaces
  • Establish replacement cycle for furniture, equipment, and building systems
  • Restroom updates (including gender neutral) to be in compliance
  • Replace activity/athletic spaces such as stadium and pool
• Deferred maintenance improvements
  • Replace building components such as windows, doors, roofs, and walls
  • Enhance existing mechanical and structural systems
  • Improve interior finish components such as flooring, doors, and hardware
• Safe and secure building renovations
  • Enhance door access controls and security systems
  • Additional security features at all district sites
  • Reconfigure the middle school parking lot pickup/dropoff

Funding:

• With the bond being approved by voters, the revenue taken from the general fund to cover facility renovations and repairs will be reduced by about $1 million per year. This will also help stabilize the district’s overall budget.
• The approved bond has no tax impact on district residents and businesses. How is that possible? The school district's existing debt is being paid in full, creating an opportunity to issue new debt with no tax impact.
• ​With voter approval, Fridley Public Schools plans to finance the projects in Question #2 by issuing general obligation bonds.
• Unlike a mortgage, general obligation school building bonds offer flexibility in structuring.  This is helpful because the district’s existing debt is higher in the near term, with expiring debt in later years.
• ​Ehlers, the district’s financial advisor, recommends a “wraparound” strategy to structure the debt for the proposed bond issue:
  • Payments on the proposed new bonds would be structured to coordinate with payments on the district’s existing bonds to keep overall tax rates relatively constant over time.
  • The preliminary payment structure for the proposed bonds has relatively small payments through taxes payable in 2027 and escalating principal payments when the existing bonds are paid off after taxes are paid in 2027.
  • Payments on the proposed new bonds would increase over the bond’s term, but those increases would be offset by decreases in payments on the district’s existing bonds.
  • The district’s existing debt will remain at levels similar to taxes paid in 2024 for taxes payable in 2025.