MFL MarMac School Board reviews student and financial data
By Audrey Posten | Times-Register
At the Nov. 10 MFL MarMac School Board meeting, superintendent Tim Dugger presented an overview of the school district’s enrollment and finances—items he said are important in considering future programming, staffing and curricular needs.
“In the fall, we take a look at our CAR, which is our certified annual report, and we look at enrollment. We look at a lot of different things for now and back a few years for some trend lines,” Dugger explained. “We also talk about the future, because this definitely affects our budget coming up in the spring for fiscal year 2027.”
MFL MarMac saw a net increase in certified enrollment from 794.85 to 797.05—or 2.2 students—in the past year. The total encompasses resident students and resident students who open enroll out, noted Dugger.
This enrollment figure generates a per pupil funding which drives the district’s overall budget. The allocated amount this year is $7,988 per student, which generally increases according to Iowa legislative approval.
MFL MarMac’s actual student enrollment, or students in seats, is 793.05—a drop from 804.65. This includes the preschool through grade 12 setting, open enrollments in, tuitioned in students, early childhood special education students and 4-year-old preschool students.
Dugger attributed the drop—which will mean approximately $92,000 less in state funding for the 2026-2027 school year—to fewer open enrollments into the district and a smaller preschool class.
Currently, 44 students attend other districts and 37 open enroll into MFL MarMac, for a net loss of seven.
“The biggest change, really, was students open enrolling to the virtual school. That did affect us a little more this year than in the past,” Dugger said.
When asked by a board member if home schooling impacts enrollment, Dugger explained, “We do get funding for that if they’re within our district.”
The MFL MarMac School District also receives supplemental weighting for sharing operations with neighboring schools and at-risk and English learners. This provides additional general fund revenue for the district. For the 2025-2026 school year, the district amount for supplemental weighting is 20.289, a decrease from 24.260.
Dugger said sharing operations have a maximum of 25 students in supplemental weighting. MFL MarMac currently shares a social worker with Keystone AEA, which equals two extra students, and transportation director Trent Miene with Postville, equaling four extra students. MFL MarMac’s total for the 2025-2026 school year is six, or $48,024.
MFL MarMac special education is funded through additional weighting. It’s gone up and down a bit the past decade, and this year falls at 92.2.
The district’s free and reduced lunch percentage sits at 32 percent. It’s important, explained Dugger, because the federal government determines funding levels for Title programs, which includes the meal program.
Dugger next addressed MFL MarMac’s general fund, where the bulk of district dollars are received and distributed. That makes gauging its health critical.
For fiscal year 2025, expenditures were $11,554,775 and income was $10,805,480. That’s compared to $10,979,555 in expenditures and $10,638,883 in income for fiscal year 2024.
“You can see how our revenue expenses have gone up the last five years, which is basically according to inflation and other costs,” Dugger noted.
The general fund balance, or cash balance, dropped from $2.69 million in fiscal year 2024 to $2.039 million in fiscal year 2025. Dugger compared that to the nearly $1.7 million in 2021, after which federal Elementary and Secondary Emergency Relief (ESSER) Funds came in.
“We got a little more cash in the bank, so it did go up for a couple years. Now, we’re getting back to where we were just a few years ago,” he said.
MFL MarMac has a general solvency ratio—which describes the condition of the cash balance at the end of the fiscal year—of 17.7 percent. The ratio is the general fund balance divided by the general fund revenue. According to Dugger, the Iowa Association of School Boards’ target range is 7 to 17 percent.
Additionally, Dugger reviewed the cash reserve levy, which allows the district to “tax a little bit to get some more cash into our system,” he said. “The maximum we can tax for is $271,000. It’s something we don’t have to do, but we may want to look at that.”
Another important factor is spending authority. MFL MarMac’s general fund unspent balance and spending authority, which is not actual cash but a spending limit, is at $3.69 million for fiscal year 2025. The unspent balance ratio is at 24.2 percent, slightly above the Iowa Association of School Boards’ goal of 11 to 20 percent. Dugger predicted this will go down the next few years due to stable enrollment and the loss of ESSR money.
Significant factors for MFL MarMac’s general fund include enrollment and open enrollment, shared operations and instructional support. The instructional support levy generates $454,697 for general fund purposes, according to Dugger, and is a combination of property taxes and income surtaxes. The board has approved the levy through 2029.
In addition to the general fund, the school district has an activity fund of $244,432, a nutrition fund of $512,320 and healthy management fund balance of $3.428 million. The latter pays for property/casualty insurance and the teacher early retirement payments.
The Secure and Advanced Vision for Education (SAVE) Fund, the statewide one-cent sales tax, has allowed the district to allocate funds for district infrastructure, buses, computers/technology and for payment on the district’s debt.
Dugger said MFL MarMac receives $1.1 million annually from the SAVE tax, which provides direct property tax relief and will sunset in 2050.
The Physical Plant and Equipment Levy (PPEL) is similar to the SAVE fund in that it is used to pay for district infrastructure, buses, computers/technology and payment on the district’s debt. The difference is PPEL revenue comes from district property taxes and an income surtax.
Dugger said MFL MarMac annually receives $526,183 from the regular and voted PPEL. The regular PPEL is continuous while the voted PPEL is in place until 2032.
At the conclusion of the presentation, Dugger told the school board it’s “a lot of numbers and facts for you to think about. After looking at our CAR and enrollment, it brings it all together and how we’re doing at this point.”
