Nome School District asks for more money from city
By Anna Lionas
Nome Public Schools is facing a deficit of over $1 million for the next school year, following funding reductions at both the local and state level.
Now, they’re asking the City of Nome to provide an additional 315,000 in funding to balance their budget for the 2025/2026 school year.
Two weeks ago, Governor Mike Dunleavy removed part of the funds the Legislature allocated for school districts in a line-item veto. Originally the Legislature passed a $700 increase to the base student funding formula, or BSA, and Dunleavy reduced it to $500. He cited the low price of oil at the time, meaning less revenue for the state.
“Our budget was originally built on a $680 BSA increase which is equivalent to the one-time funding we received in FY25,” Burgess explained to the Nome Common Council during a work session on Monday.
The veto resulted in a loss of $315,000 to Nome Public Schools. That is the amount they are asking from the city.
The city already reduced the yearly contribution to the school district by $700,000, when the council voted on a balanced budget for the next year at the June 9 meeting.
In a letter to the council, Burgess wrote that there are few options to reduce the budget more without “severely impacting the operation of schools.”
At the work session the superintendent explained where money could come from, each coming with its own sacrifice. Reducing the work force would mean not hiring anyone to fill vacant positions, as the district can’t legally rescind contracts after May 15. Most of these positions are in the elementary school.
“The elementary school, we’ve whittled down the level of support that’s been available to them over time due to budget cuts,” Burgess said.
Another option is to take money out of the district’s apartment fund, which is money set aside for the construction of the teacher and law enforcement housing that’s been discussed in Nome for years. Burgess said removing money from the fund would only push the project further back and risk the district losing $50,000 on what she said is a “shovel ready” project, without the funding to buy the shovel.
Other options include the city increasing their sales tax from 5 percent to 6.5 percent. The council on Monday voted to increase sales tax to 6 percent, following approval of Nome voters in October, but the extra .5 percent could supplement what the district needs. Another option is transferring large amounts of existing funds, but many are tied up in bonds or dwindling reserves.
The Legislature could still override Dunleavy’s line-item veto, but they likely won’t do so until they return to session in January. Until then, the district could survive, Burgess said, but it’s uncertain if the Legislature would have enough votes to achieve the override.
In a memo, City of Nome Finance Director Nickie Crowe said it was not recommended to increase the city’s contribution to the district out of their general fund. Crowe told the council and the city manager that the city’s general fund cash has been dropping over the last quarter and will continue to drop until all of property taxes are collected by the end of July.
The council did not make any decisions to increase their contribution to the school district yet. They can amend the budget, increasing the city’s contribution throughout the year as the council sees fit.