Sunnyside, Flowing Wells school districts ask voters to OK budget overrides

Sunnyside and Flowing Wells Unified School Districts are each asking voters to approve budget overrides on the Nov. 7 ballot.

Here’s what to know if you vote in those districts:

Sunnyside Unified School District

Sunnyside’s override requests are divided into Proposition 498 (8% maintenance and operation budget override) and Proposition 499 (additional assistant budget override).

Proposition 498 would generate about $8 million, and Proposition 499 would bring in $7 million or 10% of the district’s revenue control limit in fiscal year 2024-25 and the next six fiscal years.

The overrides would be funded by property tax levies.

If Proposition 498 passes, tax rates will increase by $1.36 per $100 of assessed valuation. The estimated cost to an owner of a home with a limited property value of $100,210, the average home value in the district, would be about $136 per year.

Download PDF

If Proposition 499 passes, tax rates will increase by 1.18 cents per $100 of assessed valuation. For example, the owner of a single-family home valued at $80,000 would pay an extra $94.31 annually.

Money for capital improvements includes security and safety upgrades and “modernization of aging school buildings.”

Other areas slated to receive funds include:

Maintenance of athletic and fine arts facilities.

Classroom technology, curriculum, furniture and equipment.

Buses and service vehicles maintenance.

None of the money will be used for administrators’ salaries, the district emphasizes.

If Proposition 498 doesn’t pass, “the district faces inevitable budget cuts of approximately $8 million from its operating budget. Programs and critical services to students will be reduced or eliminated and salaries will not be competitive with other area school districts,” Sunnyside Unified says in an online Q&A about the election.

If Proposition 499 fails, “the district will not have enough funds to maintain an updated transportation fleet, acquire new equipment to support student learning, and provide much needed improvements to keep our school facilities safe and modern,” it says.

Back to homepage

Subscriber Login

Keep reading with a digital access subscription.

Subscribe now

Flowing Wells Unified School District

Flowing Wells is asking voters to approve a 3% increase to its existing 10% maintenance and operation budget override, resulting in a 13% override for seven years.

It estimates the override would bring in $4.7 million in fiscal year 2024-25.

Download PDF

That would be paid for through a levy on taxable properties in the district. The estimated secondary tax rate needed to fund the full override is $2.04 per $100 of net assessed valuation for secondary tax purposes.

The estimated cost to an owner of a home with a limited property value of $127,280 (the average value of a home in the district) would be approximately $260 per year.

Flowing Wells Unified says the budget override would:

— Establish hands-on K-12 engineering classes that integrate science, technology, math, and art.

— Maintain current funding for programs including:

Award-winning fine arts and performing arts programs.

Specialized elective classes.

Competitive salaries to attract and retain outstanding teachers and staff.

Full-day kindergarten and reasonable class sizes.

Athletics for elementary through high school.

Safe and well-maintained campuses.

“Prop. 497 will enable the district to create new engineering courses for all students and keep funding fine arts and elective classes. This override will also allow the district to continue full-day kindergarten and keep in place competitive salaries for teachers and staff,” said Tucson City Council member Kevin Dahl in a Pima County pamphlet of election information.