Good evening everyone. We're going to get started. Welcome to the special March 2026 Hoboken Board of Education meeting for the purposes of the adoption of the tentative budget for the 2026 2027 school year. Thank you all for
being here. If you are joining us this evening to speak on agenda or non-aggenda items, please use the signup sheets located at the podium. Miss Lopez, can you please read the statement of compliance? >> Yes. This meeting is being held in conformity
to the open public meetings act NJSA 10 col4-6. Proper public notice of this meeting was published in the local papers on March 19th, 2026. If any board member or member of the public in attendance believes that the meeting is in
violation of the open public meetings act, the hope open board of education requests that they make a statement at this time. The board wishes to make those in attendance aware that this meeting is being recorded on video and will be broadcast by the board at a later date on CATV channel 77 and FiOS
channel 46. The full meeting recording will also be made available on board docs which can be accessed through the district homepage. The Hoboken Board of Education is committed to preserving the decorum of the public process and is mindful that we live in the electronic
age of computers, cell phones, and other electronic communications devices. Nevertheless, we respectfully request that all meeting participants kindly silence their electronic devices during the course of the meeting. And if use of the device is necessary, we ask that you please leave the meeting room if you
need to conduct personal business. >> Thank you, Miss Lopez. Please rise for the pledge of allegiance. >> To the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice
for all. So, since this is not a regular monthly meeting, we will not have any student recognitions this evening or reports from our HMS or Hoboken High School. Oh, the role. I I'd love to just keep going. Miss Lopez, would you please call the role? Yes.
>> Miss Ingley >> here. >> Miss Katatory >> here. >> Miss Delaro >> here. >> Mr. Grana >> here. >> Miss Connor >> here. Mr. Clutfell >> here. >> Miss Norwood. Miss Vez >> here. Miss McG >> here. >> You have a >> Thank you.
Getting back to what I was saying, we don't have um student recognitions or student reports this evening. So, I'm going to turn the meeting over to Superintendent Dr. Johnson for her superintendent report, which will cover um some highlights of the tenative budget for 2627.
>> Okay. Thank you. Uh good evening. As you all know, tonight is the presentation of our tentative budget for the 2026 2027 school year. Um, as you can imagine, this was a very challenging year in regard to the construction of a budget
for so many reasons. Um, in an effort to be uh as clear as possible and as transparent as possible, I'm going to present the most pertinent information first and then I'm going to work backwards. at this point in the budget process and let me first start by saying this point
in the budget process. This is our tentative budget um meeting uh which means um and I think we've said this over the last few years. This is our first pass through of um of of the budget. I'm going to present this
information from the most pertinent and then kind of work backwards. So we um in essence unpeel the onion and and allow um individuals to ask some questions. At this point in the process, the total general fund budget for the 2026 2027
school year is $14,848,45. This reflects a 16,436,133 overall uh dollar overall budget increase uh from the previous year. The total tax levy for the 2026 20227
tentative budget is $93,865,800 which equates to a 19.9 million increase over the previous year for the average assessed home in Hoboken based on a value at $532,600.
Now, we received this um information from the city today, but um as Miss Lopez informed me, that dollar figure may slightly change. >> Yeah. >> Okay. Um so, we based our um these
calculations based on that uh average assessed home value. Um, and with that average assessed home value, it equates to an increase of $82363 annually in school taxes, or in simpler terms, a $6864
$68.64 monthly increase. So, with all of that being said, putting the most pertinent information forward, what are the key drivers of the uh actual tax levy increase? So, I'm going to kind of unpack some of
the key drivers. Um while the Hoboken public school district received an increase in state aid um of over 4% um a a lot of people were a little bit excited about it um in terms of like what would that increase actually look
like. So the state had a cap um for uh state aid increases at 6% and um they also had a um a floor cap of um what the department of education could not or the state of New Jersey could not increase
the state aid by. So we came in a little over 4% and again when we heard that we were very excited because we figured okay it's an increase and it isn't a decrease. Um, but in all actuality, I do think it's important to know that the
increase that we received in state aid was a little over $1.1 million, which certainly would have helped us um in this budget cycle. However, only $411,171 could actually be used toward next year's budget to kind of offset some
costs. And the reason is because $71,425 of that state aid increase was actually allocated to preschool aid, additional preschool aid. And this while we're happy for any increase in
state aid for sure, our preschool enrollment, as you all know, has re remained relatively stable. So the increase in that particular program didn't necessarily assist us where we're seeing enrolling growth and that's at the K12 level. So I think that's
important for everyone to know. Um we also did have another increase um in our required charter school um contribution. So that that is something that we took into account when we were building the budget. And some of the other key
drivers um that we kind of looked at in terms of larger pieces of the tax levy pie um were overall utilities. We did see increases in special education tuition um and transportation regarding
um students in need of programs uh that are out of district. Um also salaries for existing staff members and for new staff members to support enrollment growth. that is projected at over uh 200 students. In fact, uh we're projecting
right around 211 students in the kindergarten through 12th grade um arena. And just to kind of put that in perspective, that 211 students, if we look at our schools, think about Connor's elementary school. 211 students
would be like adding um more than half of an additional Connor's elementary school in in one school year. Um, so I think that's definitely important to know and as you all know with salaries um of our staff members come the health
benefits and I'm sure everybody has been reading uh in the papers that health benefit increases are skyrocketing and for those of you who are not sure when we talk about health benefits we are talking about medical, dental,
prescription and vision. Um and the Hoboken public school district is in the state health benefits plan. State health benefits plan advised uh districts to um increase their health benefit um dollars
for the following school year in three different ranges. a very conservative range for budgeting, a moderate range for budgeting, and um a range that might be considered a little bit reckless in
terms of budgeting. And those percentages um came in at the conservative range. They were saying anywhere between 35 and 37% as an increase for the following year. uh 32 to 35% as kind of a what might be
considered a safe uh range for the benefits increase. And then anything under 32% 30% as being um somewhat um hopeful but maybe not necessarily um
most responsible in the budgeting process in case that didn't happen. But needless to say, um, any health benefit increase at the 30% range and over is going to be detrimental to a a budget
process. Um and then al also we we have to fund um instructional supplies, materials, textbooks, technology and furnishings not only for our existing classrooms but also for new classrooms that will um be open for our enrollment
growth. Additionally, as a result of our K12 enrollment growth and the need for space in our elementary schools, we had to create a plan to relocate many of our preschool classrooms. So, as you know, um this board um approved a project for
a lease um at 38 Jackson um for the relocation of preschool classrooms, but that plan actually will not come to fruition until the 2027 2028 school year. But we still had to manage what we were going to do with the enrollment
growth at the for the 2026 27 school year. Um and what we realize that um is that uh we have two elementary schools that are in desperate need of the space for next year. Um and the following year
we will then be moving more of our preschool classes out of our third elementary school into 38 Jackson. So right now we were in we are in conversations uh with a few different places regarding leasing for uh preschool for 2627.
And with that being said um while it alleviates some of our space issues um at the elementary level, it does in fact reduce our overall rental revenue in our budget. So while it solves one problem, it actually kind of compounds our budget
problem. And quite frankly, the following year when we move the remainder of the preschools out of the elementary schools, that problem is only going to um continue. Um, and as you're also well aware, um,
with the movement of the preschool classrooms out of the elementary schools, it absolutely does not resolve the space constraints in Hoboken Middle School, which is right here at at Dearest School. So, where do we go from here? Each year, we pre uh report out
our preliminary numbers at this uh, tenative budget meeting. The budget includes this particular budget and the numbers that I just talked about this evening include everything that was presented by principles and directors.
Um it it um ended up with both myself and Miss Lopez doing um some manipulation of um moving some pieces in and out, but for the most part, this is a full comprehensive
um submission of of the budget. Um it includes all of our staff members, it includes programs, it includes our fixed and operational expenses. Um and if you recall from past years, we do make a conscious decision to report out and
present everything at this particular juncture. Um so from here then what happens? Now from here we are going to begin the difficult process of really looking deeply at our key budget drivers
and determining where um there may be cuts and um that have to be made and also where there's opportunities for revenue generation. We're actually going to assess all positions in the district as a result of um this year's um initial
presentation of the tax levy. We're going to explore possible ways to reduce health care costs. We're going to evaluate programs at every level. And we're going to explore high impact revenue strategies to offset the tax levy and the impact on taxpayers.
Um this work is going to be done in board committees. It's going to be done in administrative meetings and it's also going to be done by gathering input from taxpayers between this evening and Tuesday, May 5th, when we're actually going to hold our public hearing for the
budget. So now is the time between now and uh May 5th where some serious work is going to be done and some uh serious decisions are going to have to be made and conversations regarding um you know
what is driving the tax levy, what's driving the budget and also what our priorities are, what what we you know feel strongly about keeping in the budget and what we feel like we can remove from the budget. budget without potentially hurting the educational um
processes um at the K12 uh level. Um and then we have one more opportunity from May 5th until the time we actually do the adoption of the budget to make any additional changes that we might need to
have. If all of you recall over the last maybe 8 to 10 years, there were some years when we actually held the public hearing and the budget adoption simultaneously. Many school districts do this. This year, we chose not to hold it on the
same day. We chose to hold the public hearing a week earlier so that we still had the opportunity to really hear um from additional um residents and also from staff members and family members, community members, etc. And then we will
adopt the budget on Tuesday, May 12th. So, um, with that being said, I'll open it up first if any board of education members have any questions or if Miss Mcgherk would like to make a statement before any of that happens.
I don't have a question. I just thank you. Thank you for this information. It's always good for us to see the full picture of the budget. Um, and like you said, this is just the initial first time forward to seeing it. um but to see what some may call the worst case
scenario, but really what is um the full picture before we start having conversations to you know dig into the numbers. So thank you. >> A question about the uh health benefits. May I >> Oh yeah, please do.
>> You you indicated that the state presented three pos scenarios. So not the state the um let brokers >> brokers present it on the basis of what they are hearing from the state.
>> Okay. >> Uh and and this this budget includes a higher >> it does not. >> Okay. We when when we said that we did a pass
through initially of the budget, we um did not budget the health benefit increase at that highest percentage. Um making Miss Lopez a little nervous, I kept going back to her office multiple
times and telling her, "You reduce the health benefit um percentage. You bring bring it down. keep bringing it it down. Um, so it is it is not at its highest. >> I'm going to ask a followup on Tom's
question. Where roughly does it fall in the range of conservative tools? >> We we ended up at the 30%. >> Okay. >> Which is still high. >> It's still very Yeah. >> Yeah. >> I mean, it's crazy that that's like not
being as cautious as possible. >> Yeah. And and also I think it's important for this board to know that um last year we um what we budgeted for health benefits
came in much higher. So, one of the reasons why our increase in the budget for health benefits looks the way it does right now also is because we're making up for um it number-wise the
percentage looks bigger in our budget because um from one year to the next because last year what what was the total that we underbudgeted benefits? >> We were underbudgeted by probably about $2.5 million billion. Yeah, about 2.5
million. And um so because of that, we um you know, we looked at where we were this year for this year and then where we need to be for next year on the basis we we actually really didn't believe that the health benefit increases were going to be as high as they were. Even
though the brokers did kind of talk about it last year and warn all the districts to make sure they budgeted at a certain level, um we we just didn't think they were going to come in as high as they actually did. Anyone else with questions? I can't
really see everyone down the line, so I want to make sure that everyone who has a question gets a chance to ask >> from this end. >> Yep. >> Any questions? >> Everybody's looking at me. Uh
>> I have a question superintendent but >> about a very about a very small number and that's pilot payments >> which is on the final revenue line here on on 400 which is the the estimate from
25 to 26 to 26 27 dipping by 70. Um do we know why that number changes just ballpark? Yeah, you can. >> So, we originally estimated um last year
at $250,000. We did not wind up receiving that because I believe all of the projects that were included in that had the had not gone online. So, we decided to make this year's uh revenue estimate match
close to what we received last year. If we get more, it will be a pleasant surprise. Um, but we wanted to be more conservative. >> Thank you. >> Anyone else? Jatali, you look like you have a question. >> No, I don't.
Nope. >> There's been no significant changes in the charter. I mean, there was there's a slight increase. Yeah, it's >> it's pretty um the charter enrollment has um you know there there were a few
years um maybe over the last 5 years that we did see a bit of an increase and that was kind of attributed to um an expansion and that was as OLA was continuing to grow. Um but then that stabilized that stabilized last year. So
as a result of that sometimes people will say then why an increase in that on that front but there's there's a lot of reasons why and it could be related to special education services um not in our
district but actually in the charters. Um just like when when we are servicing special education children in our district and uh services cost more or there's more services uh that number is going to go up. Same thing holds true at
the charter school level. So it could be something along the lines of that. It's also important for everyone to know that if there is a child um in for example a charter school and they do get placed
out of district um in a um out of district facility for or school for special needs purposes, the district covers the cost of that tuition. Um and so um but again
it changes the ratio and it changes the formula and so as a result the charter contribution does still increase. Um, same holds true and I know this is something that sometimes people don't
understand, but we have some private schools in town too that also service children that don't live in Hoboken. If there is a child that attends a school in Hoboken and they come from Bon
or they come from Jersey City to attend a private school, I'm not talking about one of the public charters nor our district and something happens where that child needs services out of district, it is our responsibility
because the private school is located in Hoboken. It is not the responsibility of where the child is coming from. It is our responsibility. And so we have had situations where children from out of
town who are in private schools in Hoboken have been placed in a residential facility outside Hoboken. We are responsible for the services for that child.
um which kind of seems um like it doesn't really make a lot of sense but that is how it works and so we do cover that cost and we are seeing those costs rise. Um they are um we are
seeing more and more therapeutic schools and more and more schools to address mental health issues. Um, and it's not just public schools that are servicing children that have those needs. Private schools are as well. And the, um,
funding does fall back on the school, the district in which the schools are located, public or private. So, um, I think that's kind of important. In terms of the pilot payments, what Vicky was saying was um you know, we had the
conversation, do we be conservative or do we try to over project what maybe the number would be? Um and we did project one way last year and it did come in a little lower. So we didn't really want
to do that uh for for next year. So >> another question uh it has been suggested not here uh but it's it's out there that the serious budget gap or budget problem at
high-tech high school uh might be solved by passing it down to the local districts Hudson County districts. >> Yeah. If and that would be a county decision,
not us. >> Yeah. >> If that happens, there's that could not affect this budget. There's they wouldn't allow that to happen. >> Well, it it almost did. >> It almost did. Um so, you're 100%
correct. as a result of the financial situation that the Hudson County Schools of Technology are in right now. Um it was discussed um two months ago um about a month and a half ago I would say at a county round table uh that the local
school districts in Hudson County would be assessed tuition for students. it was kind of presented in a way that um was was somewhat um surprising to most of the local districts. Um but it was
presented almost as if um the well the local districts in Hudson County, you haven't been paying tuition. So almost you you've kind of gotten away with it for so many years. Out of all the counties in New Jersey, only two are not
funded through the local municipalities. Um Hudson County and Middle Sex County, the county government um actually levies the taxes and you know uh requires uh the school tuitions to be paid through
county taxes. So with that being said, um you know, we we were kind of our position and when I say our um with my colleagues throughout the county superintendent were um looking at it as well, number one, we're a month and a
half away from like presenting a tenative budget. It's really kind of problematic right now from a timing perspective. Um, and then also if by some chance this was going to happen,
would we see the reduction of tuition in the county taxes so that at least the same taxpayers would not be paying double the the taxes, >> right, to our county taxes, >> correct? And so, um, you know, whether
or not we we didn't really get an answer for that at the time. And so, um, as a result of a lot of conversations, we then were told, I would say maybe two and a half weeks ago, that the decision
was in fact made not to put the tuition or to assess tuition onto the local school districts uh this year, but to be sure we know that it will happen next year. And for us, um, we're talking about an additional,
uh, quarter um, 3/4 of a million dollars is is what it would probably be. Now, interestingly, we don't really have a transportation budget in Hoboken. We have well I shouldn't say that we have a transportation budget for items such as
special education, field trips, um athletics, co-curricular activities, but we don't transport students. What even if we don't do that part of our responsibility would be the
transportation side of getting Koboken children to the county schools as well. So um it it was very concerning. It was highly problematic. um you know we were able to take a deep breath and say okay
not this year but I am losing sleep over it for regarding next year because it absolutely will become a reality for us and you know like I I I said yes in my other districts in Mars County we always
pay tuition directly um as as a local public school district but it was normalized it was part of the budget for years and years and years and years >> and not part of the county tax >> and not part of the county tax. Um well there was still a small component of
education in the county taxes but not the lion share was from the local school districts. Um so we are going to take a hit next year. You need to know that, you know, that in itself will create additional tax points
for sure. Um, if it happens, you know, and it it did seem pretty clear that it was going to. >> Any other questions from the board? I'm going to say a brief president's report and then if there are more questions if you think of one while I'm
talking by all means please ask. Um so as Dr. Johnson mentioned several times this is the tenative budget for the 2627 school years and it's 27 26 27 school year and it is the beginning of a process but I can't help but reflect
upon how it is a little bit of a perfect storm when you think about the increases in enrollment that we've seen the pressure not just at the elementary school level as the parent of an eighth grader who's getting ready to go off to Hoboken High School next year when she was going into kindergarten you know
there probably eight prek classrooms in Connors and there was a library. There was plenty of space. All these years later, I have a fourth grader in that same building. The library, no student in that building remembers there being a dedicated library because it's not there
anymore. And you know, now we're down to three or four pre-K classrooms in Connors. >> Three classrooms in Connors and we need them for next year. So, you know, I see the explosion in that elementary school, but I also hear from a middle schooler who talks about how crowded the school
building is every day, how many sixth graders there are here, and she will go into a freshman class that will probably be one of the largest classes Hoboken High School has had in a very long time. If you think about where the most expensive parts of educating students
are, it's as you get into the upper grades. So we are seeing this growth that started all these years ago with elementary school is now coming into middle school and it's certainly hitting Hobok and high school in a major way. Those programs are more expensive to run
and they are appealing to many more parents which is exactly what all nine of us up here have wanted for a a very long time. We want to have a school district that is the district of choice not just for parents in Hoboken but seen as a shining star throughout Hudson County. When you add to all of that
things that are out of our control, like the amount of money we need to send to the charter schools, and this is just reality, it's up by 9.65% over last year. Health insurance cost, we don't control that. And we have a growing population of full-time employees who need to have health
insurance. Again, that's something we don't control. I think this budget, while maybe when you look at it just from a dollars and cents standpoint may seem a little bit shocking, but as you dig deeper, is actually really a reflection of
increased enrollment at a time when costs that are outside of our control are increasing exponentially and we have to be able to to account for those. Um, it's not the prettiest thing that I've ever seen, but I do think that, you
know, coming down from this is going to be a process. It's going to require some difficult decisions, but personally, I don't see how we're going to come down a whole heck of a lot from this number unless we can find some really creative ways to generate revenue and potentially
bring some children who are in out of district placements back into our buildings because that's really, I think, kind of the only way that we can close some of that gap, especially because losing prek rental revenue, you know, it it's a it's a hit on your
budget, but again, we need that space to house children that we are legally required to educate. Probably the clunkiest and worst president's report I have ever given, but it's just how I am feeling and thinking about this budget as it stands
today. And if you have questions on the budget or the budget process, we do have an email address that people can reach out to. It is hpsdbudget at hoboken.k12.nj. us. That account is monitored on a daily basis. Um, we will hold that public
hearing on May the 5th. We look forward to hearing from the public and then vote on the budget on May the 12th at our regularly scheduled board meeting. So, I will open it back up to the board if anyone else has any last questions before we go into public comment.
>> Can I say one thing? >> Absolutely. Um, one of the things that I'm going to be presenting to the board is a pretty aggressive um, comprehensive um, revenue generation plan um, with a
whole range of thoughts and ideas about everything from uh, grant acquisition. And those of you who have been on the board for considerable amount of years know that um, we have been much more active in um,
submitting applications for competitive grants. We are going to obviously continue to do that. But I also want you to know that um there's a whole range of other strategies that I um have been kind of compiling from other districts
that have done some pretty interesting unique things in terms of generating revenue that um I would like to present to all of you. I have a few meetings set up with um private outofd district special education schools to potentially
do some partnering. Um so for two reasons, right? It's not just to lower costs. It's also to ensure a more inclusive environment within the community for children. Um, you know, if
we have the ability to educate here in Hoboken, that's what we want to do. Children who live here, we want to educate them here with their peers, with their neighbors in their own home school district. So, I have um a few meetings
that I've set up. I'll be going to visit two schools and um I have one that will be doing a Zoom call to have conversations about the possibility of some satellite programming which would help us certainly with transportation costs etc but maybe give us the
opportunity to draw in some tuition uh for children from other places that would take um and participate in the program while our children are also benefiting from the program here. Um, that's something that's really important
and it is something that I had done in u one of my previous districts. Um, we also have um some thoughts and ideas about potentially um operating um like
some new programs in terms of uh dyslexia and disgraphia as well. And with that being said, our biggest challenge is like like where will we fit in? Um right because so we have to balance out some creative and unique
ideas with then then what? And so, you know, already in my head, I'm kind of thinking about, you know, where where can central office go? like is there, you know, a are there small rooms or,
you know, nooks or closets or whatever it might be that we can go to to free up some space um to potentially run some of these programs that will help relieve some of the tax burden, but at the same
time also at the same time improve education for all all of our kids, including our children with special needs. Um, so there's a range of things that I'm going to be presenting over the next week or so to the board and there
are things that we can in committee talk about in Thank you for that Dr. Johnson. We'll now go into public comments on agenda items. As a reminder before we open for public comments over the years and most recently, the board has been asked why it does not prohibit or stop comments
about school district employees from individuals who speak during the public comment portion of the meeting. The short answer is that the law prevents the board from censoring comments made about district personnel. The board does not condone nor is the board a party to comments as such. However, just because
the board just because a speaker may have the right to say what he or she feels, it does not absolve the speaker from liability for any comments that could be viewed as defamatory by an employee. Should speakers say something that subjects them to a civil suit, the responsibility falls squarely on the speaker and not on the board. Board
policy requires that all speakers please state their name, municipality of residence, and business affiliation if any. Speakers are allowed 5 minutes and business administrator Lopez will quietly motion when they have 30 seconds left. Please address all comments to the chair. Board policy states the board
welcomes comments on matters of interest to the board, but this is not an opportunity for dialogue or debate between speakers and board members or the superintendent. >> Uh we have one member who'd like to speak. Welcome, Councilwoman Fischer. >> Thank you.
>> Thank you for attending our budget tenative budget introduction, the second year in a row. We appreciate >> I know, right? It's uh listen, taxes are important to all of us, right? And and the city's under pressure, you guys have been under pressure, the county's under pressure, the state's under pressure, everyone's under pressure, and we get
it. And I appreciate the level of detail that you went through even in this like high level. Um mainly I just wanted to maybe respond to a couple things that either over intersect or things that we've talked about in the past. The first I think is the pilot um what
Commissioner Grana mentioned. I think the amount of our pilots generally have been 250 total and then I'm not don't quote me on the amount but about 70 of it actually goes to the charter schools. So it means that around like 180. So I don't know what you're looking at but it
sounds like that may be part of the gap. Um I don't think other than um 770 house that any of the projects are completed yet, but I'm happy to follow up on the ones that we've approved to just make sure for clarity that there is or is not
one um that's contributing this year. Um with regard regard to the high-tech, I do want to uh say because I am familiar with this um the the county schools, it was going to be additional. It wasn't going to be lowering the taxes. the the
county technical schools um as you've probably read have been significantly mismanaged over the years and it's super frustrating and they're trying to plug these holes without really addressing these core issues and um this was going to be an ad. Um we are expecting to have
more newer representatives on the commissioner. We will have one in Hoboken and you've probably seen it. It looks like Ron Batista will end up being our commissioner which is great. He brings a fresh voice and a fresh idea and he's someone that I would engage on um quickly with that. Um, regarding one
idea for revenue, and I'm just speaking for my own thoughts, not what the mayor may want or whatever, is, you know, we're trying to recreation is a huge issue for the city because as your population grows, um, as we have more adults that are engaging in recreation,
all competing for the same space. The city has actually not done a great job of making its usable space available. I don't know. I'm going to say that I don't think the schools have done the best job either. Um, and so we you may
be thinking like how can you rent some more of your space maybe to the city for us to expand our programming, right? Like we have, you know, we have 3,500 adults now that want to play pickle ball all the time. Well, that didn't exist 10 years ago, right? And they're competing
for the same exact space that the kids that want to play basketball and some of the indoor sports at the same time. So whatever those corners are that aren't for the new programs that could be if you had more security or something like have the conversation with the city and if it means that we have to fund more
people to be there to open to monitor etc like let's try and figure out a way to solve that. So we're addressing recreational needs and maybe a revenue opportunity for you. I don't want to say at the expense of the city but recreation is something that we um need
to expand. um the uh charter I I'm just giving my two cents on this um after going through the exercise of how the funding formula works. Um you know every time you increase your levy because there is a percentage of the levy they
just get more money. So that's a big driver. So when you increase your levy pretty significantly last year it's lagged one year. So this is the year they just get more. But what's interesting is the other part of it is it is also the percentage of what they get is starting to go down because their
enrollment's flat and yours continues to grow, you know, at a much quicker rate. So at some point you're going to see every time like next year, if you're going to increase your levy this much this year, you're going to get a huge increase for them again next year, even though their enrollment is flat. That's just how the how it works. And I feel
like that's something that maybe it's easier to budget and and starting to think about how that does factor in a year in advance. Um but hopefully that percentage the percentage will go down because your enrollment is grow is growing a lot faster and now there's sorry is flat. And then lastly is um
just healthcare in general. This is um we were talking briefly about this. I I would love someone to say just order of magnitude. And I know you're looking at something of the 16 million like what dollar amount is that? Um 30 30% in the city. What we are looking at is plan
design and sorry. Okay. But we're looking at plan design. I I don't know if when you looked at like what you're actually funding, one of the biggest contributors to our rising costs are GLPS like Ozmpic and all of those by the tune of multiple million dollars in
terms of costs. So, like we're looking at plan design to try and figure out how to still be supportive of our staff but not have unreasonable costs. We have some really big long-term contracts as you know that we agreed to last year. It's not an easy thing to do, but looking kind of into the detail of actually what you're funding and maybe
considering changes. So, that's it. Um, but I will follow up on the pilot. We'll figure out a way to get you the the list and the amounts so it's accurate in your budget. Okay, that's it. Thank you. >> Thank you, Councilwoman Fischer. There are no other speakers.
>> All right, we will move on to the consent agenda. Is there a motion? >> Motion. >> Second. >> Miss Lopez, could you please call the role? >> Miss Angley, >> yes. >> Miss Kadamatori, >> yes. >> Miss Delara, >> yes. >> Mr. Grana,
>> yes. >> Miss Connor, >> yes. >> Mr. Clut, >> yes. >> Miss Vez, >> yes. Miss Mcgherk. >> Yes. >> Motion passes. >> Thank you, Miss Lopez. Do we have anyone signed up to speak on agenda and non-aggenda items? >> We do not.
>> Thank you very much, Miss Lopez. So, that will conclude our meeting. Do I have a motion to adjurnn? >> Motion. >> Second. All in favor say >> I. >> I. Thank you and have a good evening. Heat. Heat.
Heat. Heat. Heat up here. Heat up here. Heat up here.