The ball is rolling on potential fall elections for the Fountain Hills Unified School District, with a bond and override presentation presented by Stifel, a brokerage and investment banking firm hired by the district, at the April 14 Governing Board meeting.

The presentation covered the election process for the District Additional Assistance (DAA) Override and Maintenance and Operation (M&O) Override, both of which have traditionally been passed by Fountain Hills voters and are due for possible renewal in the coming years.

The last DAA Override for FHUSD, which tackles capital improvements, took effect in 2014 and brought $750,000 to the district. This type of funding typically goes to the areas of technology updates, renovations to facilities, textbooks/online resources, student transportation and furniture/equipment.

These overrides span seven years, which means that FHUSD is due for a re-up, if it chooses to move forward with an election this November. As noted in the Stifel report, a successful election this year would begin providing funds in 2022/23 for FHUSD.

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.

While a DAA Override helps provide for the physical needs of a school district, an M&O override provides for things like full-day kindergarten, teacher salary increases, professional development, student programs, etc.

It is important to note that this is a list of potential areas to be impacted with the passage of either measure by voters, based on the most recent elections. Current details, figures, costs to taxpayers and the like would be hammered out and provided to voters in the coming months if FHUSD decides to move forward with either election.

As is common practice for the district, a November 2021 election for the M&O Override is technically earlier than necessary, but waiting until the deadline carries the added risk of lost funding. Passage this year or next would allow for the roof of a 15 percent M&O budget override. If passage does not occur until 2023, however, the override would be phased down to 10 percent. Waiting another year would see it phased down to 5 percent.

With the Stifel report in hand, the next step for the Governing Board is to consider calling for one or both elections this year and, in the case of the DAA Override, considering the amount. While FHUSD has traditionally set the bar at $750,000 for the capital override, costs have gone up over the years and there is consideration for upping the figure to $900,000.

Calling for the election is likely to take place in the May to July window, with voter information pamphlets to be compiled over the summer and mailed out in September.

If an election is called for, early voting would begin in October, with Election Day having the final say in November.