Meeting Notes for June 23, 2025
Major budget update, concerns over cell tower, facilities update
Members absent: none
Budget Hearing
The meeting opened with a budget hearing, led by Mrs. Glenn, to review the final amendments for the 2024-2025 fiscal year and present the proposed 2025-2026 budget, as mandated by the Uniform Budgeting Act. The budget documentation included columns for audited actuals (2023-2024), initial projections, amendments, and projections for the upcoming fiscal year.
2024-2025 Final Budget Amendments
Mrs. Glenn outlined the meticulous process of reviewing every line item for revenues and expenditures to finalize the 2024-2025 budget amendments. She emphasized the importance of accuracy, noting that the process was thorough but tedious to ensure compliance and transparency. Key financial adjustments included:
Revenue Adjustments
Local Sources: Decreased from $4.1 million to $4 million, primarily due to tax tribunal rulings that lowered property assessments. Residents and commercial property owners challenged their assessments, leading to reduced tax collections. However, the state offsets this shortfall through an increased pupil foundation allowance, ensuring no net loss to the district.
State Sources: Increased due to the inclusion of carryover amounts from state grants, which are not finalized until January, and the aforementioned tax tribunal adjustments. This boosted state revenue to compensate for local reductions.
Federal Sources: Rose from $768,000 to $865,000, reflecting updated federal grant allocations.
Other Sources: Included additional local grants from the Intermediate School District (ISD) and incoming transfers, contributing to a total revenue of $35,388,088.
Expenditure Adjustments
Basic Programs and Added Needs: Saw an increase due to reallocation of teacher assignments to correct budget and function codes, ensuring accurate accounting by building. Additional costs arose from increased special education needs identified during the year.
Transportation: Decreased by approximately $200,000, reflecting finalized invoices for student transportation, with school ending in May allowing for precise year-to-date figures.
Community Services: Adjusted due to a funding shift in the preschool program. Initially, tuition-based funding was under-allocated for teacher costs, which were then moved to community services (code 351) from basic programs (code 110). This adjustment reflected a transition from two tuition-based preschool classrooms to three Great Start Readiness Program (GSRP) classrooms, reducing general fund expenditures.
Facilities and Construction increased from $484,913 to $503,000, supported by additional ESSER funds, Section 31AA, and Section 97C funding.
Total Expenditures: Reached $34,454,485, resulting in a projected surplus of $934,103, slightly lower than the initial $1.1 million projection due to higher actual expenditures. This represents a less than 1% differential.
Fund Balance: The projected ending general fund balance was $3,581,503, equating to 10.39% of expenditures, below the district’s target of 12%.
Special Revenue Funds
Community Services (Pool): Recorded revenue of $237,706 and expenditures of $210,967, leaving a fund balance of $32,445. For 2025-2026, projected revenue is $241,633, with expenditures at $220,270, maintaining a similar fund balance.
Food Services: Reported revenue of $1,568,931 and expenditures of $1,536,617, with a fund balance of $445,139. For 2025-2026, expenditures ($1,714,178) exceed revenue ($1,560,813) to reduce an excess fund balance, as required by regulations, resulting in a projected balance of $291,774.
Debt Service: Revenue of $2,198,650 and expenditures of $2,195,650, with a fund balance of $1,307,368. For 2025-2026, revenue is $2,148,525, and expenditures are $1,968,729, increasing the fund balance to $1,487,164.
Capital Projects: Revenue of $600,128 and corrected expenditures of $85,000, yielding a fund balance of $371,864, matching the cash balance. For 2025-2026, revenue is $618,379, with expenditures of $743,140, reducing the balance to $247,103.
Sinking Fund: A new fund for 2025-2026, with $1,505,000 in revenue (including interest) and $1.5 million in expenditures, leaving a $5,000 balance.
Fiduciary Fund: Balanced revenue and expenditures at $853,350, with a fund balance of $601,993, expected to remain stable in 2025-2026 with $710,000 for both revenue and expenditures.
2025-2026 Proposed Budget
The proposed 2025-2026 budget projected total revenue of $33,416,779 and expenditures of $33,034,861, yielding a surplus of $381,918 and an ending fund balance of $3,963,421. Key changes included:
Local Sources: Estimated at $4.1 million, reflecting a 2% increase in property values, with final assessed values to be confirmed in February.
State Sources: Based on flat per-pupil enrollment and a $250 per-pupil increase, with some unrestricted funds (e.g., Sections 147, 23G, 35J) eliminated based on legislative proposals.
Federal Sources: Significantly reduced due to the expiration of ESSER funds.
Expenditures: Adjusted for an 8% transportation cost increase per contract, a shift to three GSRP preschool classrooms (reducing tuition-based rooms to one), and removal of Herrick Park and Patterson expenses (e.g., landscaping, utilities) pending further discussion. Operations costs were conservatively estimated, with potential savings from solar projects not yet included. The board approved the L-4029 tax rate request, setting millage rates at 18 mills (operational), 2.15 mills (debt), 0.2449 mills (pool), and 1.7433 mills (sinking fund). Motions to adopt both the 2024-2025 final amendments and the 2025-2026 budget were passed via roll call votes.
Superintendent’s Report and Good News
Superintendent Matt Hilton shared positive updates:
Student Achievement: Aidan Coryell, previously recognized as a state champion, achieved national runner-up status in the Big Star War competition, a significant honor announced the previous week.
Athletics: The girls’ varsity softball team won a district championship but lost a close regional game to Carleton Airport, marking a successful season.
Year-End Video: Hilton presented a video highlighting the 2024-2025 school year’s moments, from first-day excitement to graduation. Technical issues cut the video short, but Hilton committed to fixing and resharing it with the board and community.
Discussion Items
The board discussed several key topics, some of which led to action items:
Food Services: No changes for 2025-2026, with Michigan continuing to fund free breakfast and lunch for all students. A 25-cent increase was proposed for second meals.
Athletics: Proposed increasing ticket prices from $6 to $8 for high school events and $4 to $5 for middle school events due to rising officiating costs (e.g., $85 to $115 per basketball game official). Season passes remain cost-effective, but family passes were eliminated. Concerns were raised about affordability for low-income families, with Hilton agreeing to explore discount options.
Facility Use: A 10% fee increase for commercial organizations was proposed, with no changes for nonprofits or school-affiliated groups like PTOs.
Office of Retirement Services Pay Scale: A new pay scale for non-unionized employees was proposed to meet Office of Retirement Services requirements, ensuring accurate retirement benefit calculations. The scale includes a 2% annual increase for steps three to five, aligning with other employee groups but not mandating raises. The need stemmed from a lawsuit highlighting delays in retirement benefit processing due to missing pay scales.
Cell Tower Lease: A proposal to lease land on the south end of Tecumseh High School for a Verizon cell tower was discussed. The facilities committee supported negotiating a higher monthly lease rate with an annual escalator. Trustee McGee expressed concerns about radiofrequency radiation, citing protests in other Michigan districts (e.g., Detroit, Wyandotte) and outdated FCC guidelines (1996). She referenced articles and a 2021 court ruling questioning FCC safety limits. Trustee Martinez countered that scientific evidence shows no health risks, and moving the tower off-site would not reduce exposure. The board authorized Hilton and Josh Madison to negotiate, with a report back before finalizing.
Cabinet Purchase: A time-sensitive purchase of cabinets from Tecumseh Cabinet for Sutton Elementary, slightly above the board’s bid threshold, was proposed to accommodate room reconfiguration for an additional kindergarten section. The vendor was selected based on a significantly lower bid from the previous year, with urgency to complete work before the school year.
Building Handbooks: - Proposed updates to student handbooks, aligned with Thrun Law Firm recommendations, included a streamlined student code of conduct, updated non-discrimination and harassment policies, and new guidelines for student use of artificial intelligence (AI). The AI policy addresses acceptable use, academic integrity, and privacy, with a formal policy review planned for July. The code of conduct provides administrators flexibility in consequences based on seven factors, such as student history.
Board Norms and Operating Procedures: Trustee Davis proposed revisiting board norms established in 2021, noting that half the current board (elected post-2021) did not contribute to them. The discussion considered an ad hoc committee versus a committee of the whole. After debate, the board opted for a committee of the whole to review norms at the next meeting, with Hilton to research other districts’ norms. Operating procedures were suggested for future policy committee review, linked to board policies.
Action Items
The board approved:
Suspending rules to act on the cabinet purchase and cell tower lease negotiations (Trustee McGee voted nay).
The Tecumseh Cabinet purchase for Sutton Elementary.
Authorization for Hilton and Madison to negotiate the Verizon cell tower lease.
The July 22, 2025, organizational meeting date.
The 2025 L-4029 tax rate request.
The tax anticipation note (Trustee McGee voted nay).
A one-year renewal of the Aramark food service contract.
The consent agenda, including June 9, 2025, meeting minutes.
Additional Notes
Financials: May 2025 financials reported $2,553,269 cash on hand, $673,953.51 in accounts payable, and a year-to-date surplus of $15,500, with an estimated fund balance of $2,944,701.
Facilities Update: The safety and facilities committee (June 17) discussed Enviro Clean’s custodial services, summer tasks, pool maintenance (wall integrity checks before roof replacement), and a cell tower. Positive feedback was noted on the custodial transition.
Public Comment
None recorded.
Adjournment
The meeting adjourned after addressing all items, with a focus on fiscal responsibility, policy alignment, and community engagement.
My Thoughts
Audio/Video Quality Improvement
I don’t know what changed, not sure if my suggestions helped, but the audio/video quality on last week’s video was superb. Well done TPS!
The Cell Tower (5G)
Trustee McGee shared concerns over the 5G tower being proposed near THS. I am no expert on this topic, so I’ll present you with some relevant research and let you decide.
Dissenting opinion on 5G:
Supportive opinion on 5G:
Board Packets
We’ve made progress, as we now have decent meeting video. Now it’s time to start presenting information packets. If all the numbers I included in this article were confusing, it’s because I obtained them by transcribing audio into paragraph form. This would all be so much easier if we could see what they see on the screen. For those that might say board meetings are “for the board”, or that it “costs too much”, or whatever excuses are thrown, here’s an example of Adrian. With a budget only a fraction of ours, they manage to provide this service to their community.
Adrian Board Presentation
Adrian Meeting Agenda with clickable links
What Does All This Mean?
Although we have a flood of info about our district finances, there is still some information needed that we don’t have. Last winter, I graphed out our district finances over the last decade (link here). To continue analyzing these trends, I will need these numbers from the state website, and I will need to know how many students we will have next semester (not a projection). When I have these things, I will post a follow-up of my previous article. This will be the true wellness check of the financial health of our district.