Manhattan School District Approves Tax Abatement and Fund Transfers

Manhattan School District 114 Meeting | February 11, 2026

Article Summary: The Manhattan School District 114 Board of Education unanimously approved two key financial resolutions to transfer operational funds and abate the 2025 property taxes levied to pay debt service on outstanding school bonds.

Financial Resolutions Key Points:

• The board approved a resolution transferring money from the Site and Construction/Capital Improvements Fund to the Operations and Maintenance Fund.

• A second resolution transferred funds from the Operations and Maintenance Fund to the Bond Fund, successfully abating the 2025 debt service tax levy.

• Total February disbursements were approved at $1,969,437.84.

• The district’s Finance Committee praised the implementation of new financial software for vastly improving budgetary projections.

The Manhattan School District 114 Board of Education executed a series of strategic financial moves during its regular meeting on Wednesday, February 11, 2026, ensuring debt obligations are met without passing an additional tax burden to local residents.

The board voted 7-0 to approve a resolution transferring funds from the Site and Construction/Capital Improvements Fund into the Operations and Maintenance Fund.

Immediately following, the board passed a second, related resolution transferring funds from the Operations and Maintenance Fund into the district’s Bond Fund. Because the district utilized its own operational reserves to cover the upcoming bond payments, the board officially abated the taxes that were previously levied for the year 2025 to pay the debt service on those outstanding bonds. The motion was made by Barb Steffen, seconded by Erica Aultz, and passed via a 7-0 roll call vote.

During the board committee reports, President John Burke noted that the Finance and Operations Committee had heavily reviewed the resolutions and legal counsel advice prior to the vote. He also took the opportunity to praise the district’s administrative staff and their new financial software systems.

“I can’t say how impressed I am with the new software that we have for finances,” Burke said. “We were able to really get a really good job of projecting our run rate going forward… compared to where we’ve been, it is so refreshing that we actually have a really good handle on not only current state but future state.”

In addition to the resolutions, the board unanimously approved the February disbursements totaling $1,969,437.84. The payments were broken down across several district funds, including:

• Education Fund: $1,628,917.75

• Building Fund: $135,799.65

• Transportation Fund: $125,313.75

• Municipal Retirement S.S. Fund: $46,890.14

• Bond & Interest Fund: $21,632.05

• Tort Immunity Fund: $10,884.50