📊 ISD 77 Mankato

Key Takeaways

• Total operating revenue ↑ ~70%
• Property taxes ↑ ~205%
• State funding ↑ ~52%
• All other sources ↑ ~44%

These totals are reconstructed directly from the Mankato Area Public School district’s own financial documents, by summing revenues across the General, Food Service, and Community Service funds, ensuring an apples-to-apples comparison across years. You can find the districts financial statements at: https://www.isd77.org/experience/departments/business-services

I’m using publicly available data to better understand long-term trends in our district. While I serve on the ISD 77 School Board, this analysis is my own independent effort and not a formal board position. I am not an accountant or financial professional, and I’m continuing to learn as I go. If you see a better way to interpret the data, or think I should be looking at it differently, I welcome your feedback. Even better, please share your approach. This is complex work, and I appreciate others who are willing to engage thoughtfully.

The Math 2015:

1️⃣ Property Taxes

From the 2015 audit:

• General Fund: $11,084,481
• Community Service Fund: $860,209
• Food Service Fund: $0

Add them: 11,944,690

$$11,084,481 + 860,209 = 11,944,690$$

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2️⃣ State Sources

From the audit:

• General Fund: $67,500,702
• Food Service: $201,790
• Community Service: $1,348,155

Add them: 69,050,647

$$67,500,702 + 201,790 + 1,348,155 = 69,050,647$$

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3️⃣ Other Sources

This is where it gets messy—but important.

“Other Sources” = everything NOT:

• property tax
• state aid

So it includes:

✔ Federal revenue

✔ Fees (meals, community ed, etc.)

✔ Miscellaneous/local revenue

✔ Investment earnings

From all three funds combined:

👉 Total = $11,901,743

👉 In this example I include Community Service Fund property taxes because I am measuring total taxpayer burden
👉 This example does not match up for MDE’s “Combined Levies” or classroom funding

The Math 2025/26

1️⃣ Property Taxes

From the FY2026 Preliminary Budget (Operating Funds breakdown):

• General Fund: $33,820,000 (approx. from General Fund levy lines)
• Community Service Fund: $2,648,575
• Food Service Fund: $0

Add them: $36,468,575

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2️⃣ State Sources

From the FY2026 Preliminary Budget:

• General Fund: $100,900,000 (approx. state aid lines combined)
• Food Service Fund: $450,000
• Community Service Fund: $3,422,833

Add them: 104,772,833

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3️⃣ Other Sources

Same definition as before:

👉 Everything that is NOT:

• Property tax
• State aid

Includes:

✔ Federal revenue
✔ Fees (food service, community ed, childcare)
✔ Miscellaneous/local revenue
✔ Investment earnings

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From FY2026 Budget (by fund):

General Fund:

• Federal + local + misc ≈ $13,500,000

Food Service:

• Federal + sales ≈ $4,200,000

Community Service:

• Fees + local ≈ $1,503,213

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Add them:19,203,213

⚠️ BUT the district summary reports:

👉 $17,203,213

Why the difference?

Because:

• Some internal transfers / adjustments
• Some revenue categories excluded from “operating summary”
• Rounding / grouping differences in the budget book

For audit-grade consistency I used:

✅ Use the official summary total: $17,203,213

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For student K-12 enrollment numbers:

From the 2014/15 Demographic report: 7718

From the 2025/26 Demographic Report: 7785