Elk Mound school district annual meeting sets total tax levy at $3.3 million
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By LeAnn R. Ralph
ELK MOUND — Electors in the Elk Mound school district approved at the annual meeting a total tax levy for the 2020-2021 school year of $3.3 million of which $2.3 million is for the general fund and $1 million is for referendum approved debt service.
The budget hearing and annual meeting were held in the Elk Mound High School auditorium August 24.
The projected increase in the tax levy for this year is $119,097, representing a 3.71 percent increase, while the projected mill rate for the 2020-2021 school year is $8.09 per $1,000 of equalized property value, representing a decrease of $17.90 per $1,000 of property value from last year.
Equalized value in the school district was $388.5 million in 2019-2020.
The actual mill rate will depend on the state-certified equalized value received in October.
As a general rule, when the equalized property value increases, the mill rate decreases. Individual properties will experience different amounts of increases or decreases in the school property tax levy depending upon whether the value of the individual property increased or decreased.
The Board of Education has a legal obligation to set a sufficient levy on or before November 1 for school district operations and to retire debt obligations if a sufficient amount was not levied at the annual meeting.
The general fund revenue and expense budget for the 2020-2021 school year is $13.58 million.
The general fund balance on June 30 at the end of the 2020 school year was $2.75 million.
According to the budget summary provided to school district residents, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the school district may need to add additional staff and purchase additional materials to provide in-person instruction. Additional custodial staff may need to be hired for cleaning during the day. Additional bus drivers and extra cleaning materials may be also be needed.
The school district has current total debt of $13.16 million, which includes $3.345 million with outstanding debt of $2.87 million from the 2010 construction project, at .34 percent interest, with a maturity date of April 1, 2026; $2.57 million from a 2015 refinancing of debt with outstanding debt of $690,000, at 2 percent interest, with a maturity date of April 1, 2020; and $9.6 million from a 2020 referendum short term note, at 1.51 percent interest, with a maturity date of September 10, 2020.
During the regular business at the annual meeting, resolutions were approved to keep the school board salaries at their current rate; to authorize the purchase of textbooks; to authorize providing a school lunch at a reasonable price; to authorize the school board to provide legal defense on its behalf; to set the school term with direct instruction hours of not less than 437 hours for kindergarten, 1,050 hours for grades 1 to 6, and 1,137 hours for grades 7 to 12; and to set a limit on borrowing at $38 million based on the allowable amount of 10 percent of the equalized value in the district of $388 million.
