Budget Override Continuation Election

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Important Election Dates

Election day – November 5, 2024

2024 Budget Override Continudation Election Fact Sheet

Arizona Public School Per Student Funding Fiscal Year 2025

Frequently Asked Questions - Override

How GPS Spends Taxpayer Dollars

Election Information

Budget Override Continuation 2024 Election Banner

Gilbert Public Schools Governing Board approved that in November 2024, voters living within Gilbert Public School boundaries will decide on a proposed 15% budget override continuation.

This would be a continuation of the budget override approved by voters in November 2019 and in place since 2020/21 school year, generating approximately $36 million annually to:

ensure competitive salaries to recruit and retain high-quality teachers and staff in classrooms,
maintain programmatic choices for students creating future ready graduates,
maintain campus safety and security personnel and,
maintain class sizes with allocation to class size reduction.

About the GPS 2024 Budget Override Election

This is Not a Tax Increase. The budget override is a continuation of local funding approved in 2019 by voters. If the budget override continuation is not approved the district would have to cut approximately $36 million from the budget over 3 years starting in school year 2025/26. Gilbert Public Schools operates under strict financial stewardship and has received national awards for excellence in financial reporting.

Nearby Ballot Dropbox Information for GPS Residents

Town of Gilbert:
Gilbert Municipal Center Town Hall/Building I 50 E Civic Center Dr. Gilbert, AZ 85296
Gilbert Public Works North Area Service Center 900 E Juniper Ave. Gilbert, AZ 85234

City of Chandler:
Chandler/Gilbert Community College Student Center 2626 E Pecos Rd. Chandler, AZ 85225
Chandler City Hall 175 S Arizona Ave. Chandler, AZ 85225

City of Mesa:
ASU Polytechnic Campus Student Union/Cooley Ballroom 5999 S Backus Mall Mesa, AZ 85212
Maricopa County Recorder/Election Mesa Office 222 E Javelina Ave. Suite A Mesa, AZ 85210

General Information

What's on the ballot?

Whats on the Ballot?

Question 1:
15% M&O Budget Override Continuation

Ensure High-Quality Education Professionals in Classrooms with Competitive Salaries
Maintain Campus Safety and Security
Maintain Programmatic Choice Creating Future Ready Graduates
Maintain Class Sizes and Allocation to Class Size Reduction

Question 2:
The Sale of Two Land Parcels

The sale of land request for the Madero and Cole properties is to provide GPS additional flexibility in meeting future capital needs at existing buildings. When the Neely Traditional Building was sold to the Town in 2022, the District received nearly $7 Million to use towards capital improvements. Both of these parcels are close to the same acreage as the Neely property off of Juniper. Voter approval is required for the sale of land. The authority to sell never expires and the Governing Board is not obligated to sell any property after voter approval.

Why is the Budget Override Continuation needed?

M&O Budget Override Continuation Need

Detailed Budgetary Priorities

Attract and Retain the Highest Quality Teachers and Staff

$14.3 million(M) allocated in FY 2021, plus $4.4 M in FY 2022, plus $23 M in FY 2023, plus $9.8 M in FY 2024, $4.7 M for FY 2025 = $ 56.2 M over five years

Maintain Student and Staff Safety and Security Personnel

$1.8 M in FY 2021 and $0.7 M in FY 2023 = $ 2.5 M

Maintain a $2 M Allocation to Class Size Reduction

Not only will class sizes be maintained if the override is renewed but an additional $2 M is allocated annually to address some of the classes K-12 on an as needed basis.

The M&O Budget at a Glance (2024-25 data)

$287.65 M Total M&O Budget Capacity

M&O Budget at a Glance for 2024-25 Data graphic

$209.14 M Salaries & Benefits State Formula

$35.10 M Salaries & Benefits Override

$43.41 M Operating Expenses

What Happens if the Override Fails?

M&O Override Reduction Schedule

	SY 2025-2026	SY 2026-2027	SY 2027-2028
Total Value of Override = $35.1 M	$-11.7 M	$-23.4 M	$-35.1 M
Override Remaining Each Year	$23.4 M	$11.7 M	$0.0 M

No decisions have been made on what would be done to cover the first year budget reduction of $12 million. Over a three year period the budget would have to reduce by a total of $36 million. Salaries would not be reduced as it is important to maintain competitiveness in the state and with surrounding districts to ensure high-quality educators and staff for our students and families. To provide an idea of what constitutes $12 million in a school district, if the decision was made to not renew the positions added following the approval of the 2019 override, including social workers on every campus, additional security guards at elementary level, additional art teachers, and instructional coaches district-wide that would total only $3.1 million. The M&O budget is made up primarily of salaries and to reduce this by $12 million the following may be considered:

Increase class sizes by 3 students K-12
Eliminate School & Department Capital Allocations
District Level Decreases
Programmatic Decreases TBD (Art, Library, Music, Performing Arts, Athletics, School Choice Programming, Service Level of Special Education and Gifted)
Drawdown of Fund Balance

What are the tax rate considerations?

What is the tax rate history in our district boundaries?

In 2016, GPS did not have an override and the tax rate was over $6.00 per $100 of assessed value. Note in 2024 that with a 15% override, the tax rate is about $5.70 per $100 of Assessed Value.

From last year’s pamphlet, please see the examples below:

FY Tax Rate History bar graph from 2016 to 2024 — **FY 2025 Tax Rate set at $5.2795 per $100 of AV.**

Primary Tax Rate

Bond Tax Rate

Override Tax Rate

Combined Tax Rate

How do I vote in this election?

How are my property taxes calculated?

If a homeowner, the property tax is calculated based on an assessment ratio of 10% against your net assessed value (AV) which is different than your market value. For example, if the tax rate is $1.30 per $100 of AV and your net AV is $251,560, the average limited property value for the current year within Gilbert Public Schools (again, less than your market value), the calculation is:
$251,560 x 10% = $25,156 divided by $100 = $251.16 x $1.30 your annual tax is $326.51/year or $27.23/month.
To calculate their property taxes, a community member needs the limited property value of their property. This is not the current fair market value of a home that can be found on Zillow or Redfin but rather the Limited Property Value as calculated by the Maricopa County Assessor. This amount can be located on the Property Notice of Valuation that is mailed each year from the Maricopa County Assessor or online by visiting the Maricopa County Assessor website.

How does Arizona fund schools?

Arizona funds schools based on the number of students and the miles students are transported. It is formula based funding and a school district’s budget limit does not increase or decrease if the assessed value in the district changes. Arizona provides a specific dollar amount per student for maintenance and operational expenses (salaries, benefits, supplies, services, utilities) and for capital (furniture, equipment, technology, vehicles, textbooks, library books, instructional aids). The capital allocation has not been fully funded for several years.