Fountain Hills voters are being asked this November to consider a pair of budget overrides for the Fountain Hills Unified School District, including a Maintenance and Operations (M&O) override and a District Additional Assistance (DAA) override, also known as a capital override.

The Governing Board voted unanimously at its May 12 meeting to call for the upcoming override elections.

Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 2, with ballots to be mailed to every registered voter in Fountain Hills during the month of October. Those ballots may be filled out and mailed back or dropped off at ballot centers. Local voting centers have not yet been identified. Information pamphlets were also expected to be mailed to Fountain Hills residents by the end of September.

FHUSD has also put together fact sheets for each override, highlighting what they are, how much they will cost and what the money will go toward. The fact sheets note that neither override is a new tax, but rather a continuation of funding the Fountain Hills community has traditionally voted in favor of each time a renewal comes due.

For additional information, the Maricopa County Elections Office can be reached at 602-506-3535 or online at recorder.maricopa.gov/elections.

The following highlights were taken from the FHUSD override fact sheets.

M&O

Concerning the M&O override, Arizona school districts can increase their maintenance and operations budget by up to 15 percent more, per year, than the per pupil funding level established by the state.

For FHUSD, M&O funds are primarily used for teacher and staff salaries. Other areas bolstered by monies provided by an M&O override include free full-day kindergarten, teacher salary increases, professional development, additional staff for reading literacy support and rewarding staff for exemplary performances. The fact sheet says the M&O override will also “enable the district to maintain its outstanding programs.”

In terms of dollars, the M&O override voters must consider is for $1.3 million annually, which would be funded the first year by an estimated tax rate of $0.23 per $100 of secondary assessed valuation. That’s broken down to about $23 per $100,000 in assessed value of a home. The average cost to Fountain Hills residents is $86 annually.

FHUSD’s last M&O Override was approved in 2017 and must be approved again in the coming years if the district does not want to risk a drop-off in the funds provided.

A non-renewal of the M&O override would require about $1.3 million to be trimmed from FHUSD’s operating budget beginning in 2022. The stated impact of a failure includes reduction or loss of programs, less-competitive salaries for educators and an increase in class sizes.

DAA

While M&O provides for salaries and programs, the DAA override helps provide for the physical needs of FHUSD. As stated in the fact sheet, “capital funds are used almost exclusively for instructional and student materials” including furniture, vehicles, software/hardware, textbooks, online resources and improvement to existing facilities.

Arizona districts are allowed to increase their DAA budgets up to 10 percent or $750,000 of the district’s revenue control limit for capital purchases. As with previous DAA overrides, the one voters are being asked to consider in November would provide funding for seven years.

The DAA override being considered provides approximately $750,000 annually and would be funded by an annual tax rate of $0.1306 per $100 of secondary assessed valuation. That averages about $48 per year for Fountain Hills residents.

If the DAA override meets with failure, the stated impact includes cutting $750,000 from the operating budget starting in 2023. Updated materials within school sites would take a hit, as would facility upkeep.

The last DAA Override for FHUSD took effect in 2014.