Board approves correction to capital improvement tax distribution so county sends funds directly to charter schools

The Taos Municipal Schools Board of Education voted on June 18 to restore charter schools to the district’s capital improvement tax levy distribution after staff, legal counsel and the county identified a clerical omission in a prior resolution.

Director of Finance Tanya Maestas told trustees the omission dated to a 2019 administrative change and that charter schools were left off a 2023 version of the district’s capital improvement tax levy resolution. Maestas said the county notified the charters of the omission and the district worked with legal counsel to model a corrected resolution used by other New Mexico districts.

Maestas said the corrected resolution will let Taos County transmit capital improvement levy receipts directly to charter schools in proportions determined by student counts rather than routing the funds through the district. She told the board the correction restores the distribution as originally authorized when the levy passed.

The superintendent recommended approval and the board voted in favor. Maestas said the Public Education Department granted a short extension to finalize paperwork needed to process July 1 distributions.

The board also approved a routine budget‑adjustment authority (BARS) resolution that allows the finance office to make year‑end budget transfers and present them to the board for ratification, a recurring administrative practice the director said helps the office close the fiscal year on time.