Border Land School Division (BLSD) has approved a $40,587,010 operating budget for the 2025-2026 fiscal year, marking a $2 million, or 5.4 per cent, increase from the previous year.
The division is proposing a break-even budget, ensuring that their expenditures align with available funding.
“Our approved financial plan includes an operating budget of $40,587,010, an annual capital expenditure of $396,400, and $127,000 designated for capital reserve projects,” secretary-treasurer Rachel Geirnaert explained. “We also received $297,000 specifically for new nutrition programming, while our provincial funding for existing operations saw an increase of $149,000.”
A number of factors influenced this year’s budget.
“Salaries and benefits account for 80 per cent of our budget, so those always significantly impact our financial plan,” said Geirnaert. “We’ve also seen rising costs in fuel, bus repairs, and custodial and maintenance supplies, all of which contributed to this year’s budget adjustments.”
To balance the budget, BLSD will be relying on property tax revenue.
“The funding from the province was not enough to cover our increased costs, so we rely on taxpayers to assist us in operating the school division,” Geirnaert said. “Fortunately, BLSD had a surplus at the end of June. The board made the decision to allocate some of the surplus back to taxpayers by applying it directly to the special requirement and by purchasing our next three buses from this surplus.”
Geirnaert confirmed that the special levy will increase by 3.98 per cent, translating to a mill rate increase of 0.33, or 2.78 per cent.
“For a home valued at $200,000, this means an increase in education taxes of $29.70 before the province’s education property tax credit is applied,” she explained.
Meanwhile, a number of projects were completed across the division in 2024.
“We’ve made improvements in flooring, cabinetry, PA systems, lockers, LED lighting, floor scrubbers, and exterior brick repairs in various schools,” shared Geirnaert. “These projects align with our commitment to maintaining and enhancing our facilities to create better learning environments for students.”
