Next year’s budget for USD 257 will likely include a slight tax increase, school board members were told Monday.
Most of the funding is based on enrollment numbers, which have been declining except for a slight bump caused by the opening of the new elementary school in 2022.
The tax increase will stem from the need to generate $1.3 million in the district’s local option budget, which supplements state aid.
The LOB levy will increase about 1.7 mills, to 18.5, although Superintendent of Schools Stacey Fager said the overall mill levy increase will be smaller than that because of a lower tax rate on the district’s school bond debt.
The district will need to collect 22.017 mills to generate $1.5 million to pay its bond payments this year, down from 23.23 mills last year. That’s even after the state reduced the amount it gives to offset those bond payments, which was reduced from 22% to 16%, Fager noted.
A mill is a tenth of a penny, and generates $1 for every $1,000 in a property’s assessed valuation.
Fager expects enrollment to drop again for 2024-25, but it’s too soon to know how many students might enroll this year. The official headcount is Sept. 20.
So for budget purposes, Fager is estimating the district will have 1,030 full-time equivalent students, including 45 preschool students. (Because preschoolers attend half-day sessions, they are counted as “half” students. In reality, there are 90 preschoolers.)
A district’s enrollment also is adjusted by other factors, such as how many students are listed as “at-risk.”
All told, the district expects to receive more than $11.6 million in state aid next year.
“Of the $11 million, less than $1 million will come from local sources,” said Fager. “Most will come from the State of Kansas as aid to our district. We are a high at-risk district but also, we’re not a rich district.”
All districts are expected to collect 20 mills from the state’s local option budget, although the legislature this year made some changes. Lawmakers raised the exemption on the first $100,000 of a property’s value, up from $40,000. Locally, the district will raise $963,000.
Overall, the total mill rate will be 68.558, compared to last year’s 67.879. Fager noted those figures are estimates because the county has not yet finalized its assessed valuation for next year.
Of note, the district predicted a slight tax rate increase last year, but in the end the actual collection was even smaller after assessed valuations increased.
The budget was reviewed by two state education officials, Fager said.
