Charles City School Board Holds Public Hearings Monday (04.13) on Proposed FY27 Budget, $12.5 Million SAVE Bonds

The proposed property tax levy in the Charles City School District is anticipated to come down by 59-cents per $1,000 of taxable valuation for the 2026-2027 school year, to $12.37 starting July 1st.

Superintendent Brian Burnight announced that bigger-than-anticipated rate reduction during last month’s public hearing on the proposed Grand Levy Tax Rate, which has been made possible due to extra state funding.

Trimming the district’s budget overall in recent years also helps, a process Burnight continued when he was hired prior to the 2024-2025 school year.

The property tax levy reduction does not become official until the district’s FY27 budget is approved, with a budget public hearing during Monday (04.13) night’s School Board meeting. The Board will also hold a public hearing on borrowing against $12.5 million in state SAVE bonds to address a wide range of infrastructure upgrades to the High School.

SAVE funds would help with asbestos abatement, making bathrooms ADA-compliant, and turning the High School gym balcony into a weight room, with the current weight room becoming the wrestling room. However, those projects would not start until the summer of 2028.

In the meantime, Burnight says getting the High School’s HVAC off the boiler system will begin this summer, thanks to $4 million in bonding approved by the School Board in March 2025.

The public can weigh in on the FY27 budget and the SAVE bonding during the School Board meeting starting at 5:30 pm Monday in the High School Library.