What’s on the ballot?
The proposal on the ballot will ask voters to approve an additional operating levy of $1236.60 per student. The proposed levy will provide approximately $8 million per year for 10 years, beginning with the 2026-2027 school year.
If the November 4, 2025 operating levy is approved, the district will be able to maintain and enhance current experiences for our learners, expand academic supports and begin to look at investing in additional learning opportunities.
If the operating levy is not approved, the district will need to make additional budget reductions that will increase class sizes, eliminate additional educational programs and reduce learning opportunities for students.
Why a referendum?
Like most districts across Minnesota, Farmington Area Public Schools face significant financial challenges. These challenges have been addressed through the use of assigned fund balance dollars and budget cuts, including reducing administrative staff, restructuring middle school schedules resulting in a loss of electives, and ending career and technical partnerships like MNCAPS and CTE Programming at ISD 917 (DCTC Campus).
The main goals of the Farmington Area Public Schools referendum ballot proposal are to improve district financial stability and continue to offer excellent academic programs and learning opportunities to students. This new proposed levy would allow the district to stabilize its funding and address future needs as costs continue to increase based on the following three key factors:
- lack of adequate funding from the state to keep up with increasing costs including transportation, learning resources and operational expenses;
- lack of adequate funding from state and federal sources to cover the cost of special education services provided by the district (often referred to as the “special education cross subsidy”) and multilingual learner services provided by the district (often referred to as the “multilingual learner cross subsidy”);
- lack of adequate funding from the state to cover the cost of newly mandated services to be provided by the district such as the Read Act, Multi-Tiered System of Supports, Unemployment Insurance, and Paid Family Medical Leave.
Why now?
The decision by the school board to schedule the operating levy election came after months of consideration and discussion. The district has realigned the budget for the past 5 years, including reductions and the use of fund balance dollars, to meet the requirement of having a balanced budget. The amount of reductions and realignments for each year are listed below:
- 2021-2022 - $700,000 (reduction)
- 2022-2023 - $1,050,000 (reduction)
- 2023-2024 - $2,400,000 (reduction)
- 2024-2025 - $2,700,000 (a one-time realignment from the assigned fund balance)
- 2025-2026 - $4,500,000 (a $2.2 million reduction and a one-time realignment of $2.3 million from the assigned fund balance)
The district is now projecting a $4.2 million deficit for the 2026-27 school year. Because of past reductions and the projected deficit, it was important to offer district residents the opportunity to consider increasing funding for the district rather than facing additional reductions in the next few years.
Tax Impact
In proposing the new levy, the board carefully considered the tax implications for district residents. If the November 4, 2025 operating levy is approved, school property taxes for district residents with a home valued at $350,000 will increase by about $534 per year or $44.50 per month. This amount will only be in place for the 2026-27 school year as the tax impact for residents will be significantly reduced in coming years.
In 2027-2028, a previously-approved bond levy (used to build FHS and remodel RVES to an elementary school) will expire resulting in a reduction in school property taxes on a $350,000 home of $407 per year or $33.92 per month. Residents will see another drop in school property taxes in 2031-2032 when another bond levy (deferred maintenance) will expire resulting in an additional decrease of $691 per year or $57.58 per month. While property taxes for most residents will increase for one year, all property owners will see a significant reduction in property taxes beginning in 2027-2028.
Estimated Property Tax Impact Chart (click here!) - This chart provides the estimated property tax change on a variety of property types and values if the operating levy is approved on November 4, 2025.
How to Vote
To vote you must:
- be at least 18 years old;
- be a citizen of the United States;
- be a resident of the school district and maintain residence in the district for 20 days immediately preceding the election.
The election will take place on Tuesday, November 4, 2025. In Minnesota, you can vote early with an absentee ballot starting September 19, 2025. You can request an absentee ballot online for federal, state, and county elections. Click here to find your polling place.
Learn More
For additional information:
Updated May 14, 2025