CCS budget gets nod with fewer dollars in tax askings

l fund school operations with less property taxes than in 2021-22.
    Board members approved the annual budget at a Sept. 13 meeting on an 8-0 vote.
    While the budget’s General Fund is up, a big drop in the building fund request, to the tune of $548,724 less, was the big factor in overall less tax dollars requested.
    For the 2022-23 year, taxpayers will pay $230,776 less in taxes across the district. The property tax request will drop from $8,423,471 to $8,192,695, according to the budget documents adopted last week.
    The tax rate, which includes all funds, will drop from .663576 to .619061, or 6.7% less.
    Board President Karl Meeske said the school will pay off its HVAC project bond this December, which helped them drop the building fund dollars needed for 2022-23.
    Added to that and helping spread out the property tax bite is a 4% valuation increase across the district.
    County assessor figures show the CCS district’s valuation grew from $1,269,405,104 to $1,323,405,879, which includes all of the school property in Dundy County, as well.
    The CCS total operating budget for 2022-23 will be $11,811.868, down from the 2021-22 budget of $12,689,014, or about 7% less.
Board not happy with
TRANE service
    CCS has an annual contract with TRANE for preventative maintenance on its heating, ventilation and air conditioning equipment, but board members expressed frustration with the company at last week’s meeting.    
    Supt. Adam Lambert said the school maintenance head, Dallas Baney, has been frustrated with the amount of time service people are actually on site for maintenance on the equipment, and the CCS staff is doing some of the work TRANE is responsible for, such as filter replacement.
    The contract specifies service people be here once in the spring and once in the fall. TRANE representatives are also on call, if needed.
    The company’s spring visit didn’t happen until August this year, Lambert said. When asked if TRANE will be here this fall, he said that is something he will be monitoring.
    Lambert said they were able to negotiate the cost of the 2022-23 contract down from $18,000 originally to $12,900, a $5,100 savings.
    While the board ended up approving the contract, board members expressed support for Baney and the maintenance staff.
    Board member Dan Reeves said he wasn’t ready to close off the contract with TRANE, which was mentioned during the discussion, and expressed support for Baney in how he’s handling the extra workload.
    Reeves added, “But, if he wants to lean on these guys hard to the point he thinks there aren’t any other alternatives, I’m good with that.”
    Reeves said these issues and “getting the run-around” have happened before.
    He  added that when the TRANE reps get involved the service gets better.
    Supt. Lambert said TRANE now knows CCS is upset with the service.
Reports
    Supt. Lambert informed board members the school’s two new mini vans are still sitting in warehouse waiting for the air-conditioning installation.
    The new playground equipment for the west grounds is here, but CCS is waiting for the installers to come, he added. It’s expected it will take about a week for the installation.
    7-12 Principal Christopher Barr said attendance has been at 93.46% since the start of school and there have been only a few discipline problems.
    Barr also noted CCS participated in a drug dog search Sept. 7 with no issues, and on the same day, 7-12 students conducted a bus evacuation safety drill.