FPS

Fremont Public Schools Adopts the 2023-2024 Budget

Hearings & Meeting Held

Fremont, Neb. – (Sep. 11, 2023) Fremont Public Schools passed their 2023-2024 Budget on a 6-0 vote during the Board of Education meeting on Monday night. The General Fund budget will decrease by 3.20% from $69,595,949 to $67,370,915. At the same time on the resource side, the District is experiencing a 12.52% increase in assessed valuation. The proposed budget also includes a property tax levy that is being reduced by 8.5 cents, the levy will drop from $1.223 to $1.138.  

The levy in the General Fund will now be set at 91.9 cents and the Special Building Fund will be set at 2.5 cents. The levy associated with the Bond Fund is set at 19.3 cents, where the district projected it to be when the voters approved the $123 million bond issue September 14, 2021. 

Three sets of Federal allocations called the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSERS) funds were awarded and budgeted in the 2020-2021 budget year and can be expensed through September of 2023.    

Fremont Public Schools General Fund budget covers personnel, instruction, transportation and most operating costs. Personnel costs make up 80% of the General Fund. The District budgets the majority of the General Fund expenditures on classroom instruction – approximately 76%.

A majority of the budget, 47%, is funded by property taxes. The second-largest revenue source is state aid, which funds 31.% of the budget.

The Board of Education aims to maximize our resources while creating an expenditure budget which meets the district’s needs, all while being sensitive to the needs of the district’s patrons. 

The budget incorporates changes due to the negotiated agreement and increases for all employee groups of 3.75%. 

Issues affecting FPS finances include increased costs for labor and staffing, cost of supplies and materials, transportation expenses, utility rates, insurance and transportation costs. “Essentially, everything impacting our own personal finances is also creating a challenge for the school district budget,” stated Dr. Brad Dahl, Associate Superintendent.  Additional state sources of revenue were added to help districts be less reliant on property taxes for this fiscal year and helped the district lower their overall levy by 8.5 cents. 

The district continues to be efficient with its spending. Fremont Public Schools is ranked 6th out of 244 school districts in Nebraska in per-pupil spending; only 5 districts in the state spend less per-pupil. The district spends $12,081 per-pupil compared to the state average of $15,113.

Board of Education President Sandi Proskovec noted, “The budget approved tonight accurately reflects the district’s revenues and expenditures and meets the educational needs of the district while honoring the needs of the community.  Budgeting for FPS is a year-long process and one that is taken seriously with intentionality.”

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The mission statement of the Fremont Public Schools is to produce creative, adaptable, productive citizens committed to lifelong learning.