MUSD override fate decided today

The fate of the Maricopa Unified School District’s current budget override will be decided today, as the deadline to receive ballots in the all-mail election is this afternoon.

City voters will decide whether to continue to fund a 10% override of MUSD’s budget, with funding going toward additional teachers and staff, technology in the classroom, and the RAM Academy, the district’s alternative high school. The election seeks approval of Proposition 457, which would continue the existing budget override that has provided additional funding to the district since it was approved by voters in 2016.

The measure has the support of all of the city’s elected officials. All five MUSD Governing Board and all seven city council members have come out in favor of the proposition.

City Manager Rick Horst also favors the measure – for reasons beyond just education.

“The greatest economic tool we have is our citizens, and that includes our youth,” Horst said. “They will one day be our business owners and the leadership of this community. They will be the schoolteachers, the firefighters, all those types of things. I think it’s very short-sighted to say, ‘Well, my kids don’t live here, I don’t want to pay that tax.’ You can take that approach, but eventually you’re going to have to pay more. You’ll have to pay for more police officers, because of increased crime, pay to clean up vandalism, blight, all those other things, because education is the heart and soul of our community, and it always has been. And frankly it’s the heart and soul of our nation.”

If the measure passes, it will continue the existing levy for another five years, allowing MUSD to exceed its state-mandated budget by 10%, or about $5 million per year. The five-year funding cycle would begin with the 2022-23 school year.

Failure of the measure means MUSD must begin phasing out the additional funds beginning in the 2022-23 school year. The district will lose one-third of the additional funding, or about $1.7 million per year, in both the 2022-23 and 2023-24 school years, with override funding going away completely for the 2024-25 school year.

Election results are expected to be available Tuesday evening; check back with InMaricopa.com or visit us on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram for results as they become available.