Please be aware there will be a special school board meeting this Monday, June 5 at 6:30 p.m. in the HS media center. The purpose of this meeting will be to discuss and have the school board act on legislation that was passed in this most recent session.
One of the bills passed during this last session was to grant school boards authority to pass tax levies like other government entities in the state. (I do want to be clear, this is only for a levy and not to allow school boards to pass resolutions for a bond referendum project.) The discussion that took place during the legislative session was to what extent school boards would have authority over levy referendums. There were still members in the legislature that did not want districts to have the full authority that other government entities currently have for passing these types of levies. The compromise that was reached and passed into law was to grant school districts a one-time authorization of current voter passed levy referendums. This is what the school board will be acting on Monday night, whether to reauthorize the levy referendum that had been passed in 2017. The law specifically states, this is only for the reauthorization of a current levy and the school board cannot increase the amount or the time period of the levy.
The levy referendum that was passed in 2017 was $200/student. The purpose of this levy at the time was to cover the additional costs of programming the district offered at that time and to also offset the cost of additional education programming for students. All of the reasoning for the levy in 2017 are still in effect in our schools in 2023. As a matter of fact, costs have gone up. Cost of College in the Schools (CIS) classes have gone up. Use and need for technology have gone up. Overall inflation and employee costs have gone up. Not passing the resolution will most certainly cause issues with our budget down the road.
The bottom line on the additional funding we receive from this levy is crucial to our budget.
We are having the meeting this Monday because of another component of the bill that was passed. In order for a school district to renew an expiring levy this year, the board would have to act upon it by June 15, 2023. June 5 was the only date that worked for the school board to attain a quorum for the meeting.
Passing the resolution is cost neutral. It will not increase anyone’s taxes, it only maintains what they are already paying.
By the numbers on the levy: $200/student
Total revenue from the levy: $282,960.00
Breakdown of the funding from the levy:
Local - $257,259.58
State Aid - $25,700.42
There will be an open forum at the beginning of the school board meeting at 6:30. A Zoom option for the open forum will also be available at 6:30. The school board will take action on the resolution following the open forum.