The Vail Unified School District will have a clearer view of its future finances next week as voters in the district decide on a budget override on Tuesday.
Proposition 487 asks voters to decide whether they would like to reauthorize a 12.5% budget override for 2022-2023 and the subsequent six fiscal years thereafter, according to information included in the sample ballot.
Darcy Mentone, the district’s communications director, said the extra money would help maintain small class sizes and certain programs including arts, music, physical education and advanced placement courses.
“The way that we look at it is essentially that the Vail School District belongs to the community and so this is the community’s opportunity to make a decision on what they want out of their schools,” she said.
Mentone said the district’s budget override has been in place since 1993, and would not raise the district’s tax rate as it is only a continuation of a measure that is already in place.
She added the budget override would cost district taxpayers about $336 per year for a property assessed at $200,000, which is what taxpayers are currently paying.
“Now, values of homes have risen quite a bit so we’ve had a lot of confusion with people thinking that they’re going to be paying a lot more for the override because the value of their home has increased,” Mentone said.
But, she said Arizona law states that a property’s assessed value cannot increase by more than 5% at any given time, even if the property’s actual value has increased by more than that.
Ballots will be accepted until 7 p.m. Nov. 2. The city of Tucson is also holding an election Tuesday for three City Council wards and two propositions.
