Colfax Board of Education approves combined tax levy of $2.8 million
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By LeAnn R. Ralph
COLFAX — The Colfax Board of Education has approved a combined tax levy of $2,806,655 for the 2018-2019 budget, which compares to a combined tax levy of $2,781,921 for the 2017-2018 budget.
The Colfax Board of Education unanimously approved setting the tax levy as presented at the school board’s October 29 meeting.
The combined tax levy for the 2018-2019 school year represents an increase of $24,734.
The mill rate will be $7.99 per $1,000 of property value, compared to a mill rate of $8.41 for last year, said William C. Yingst Jr., district administrator.
A 42-cent decrease in the mill rate is significant, and a mill rate of less than $8 per $1,000 in property value is a good number, Yingst noted.
Equalized value has increased in the school district this year by $20.7 million to $351.4 million, representing an increase of about 6 percent in the equalized value.
A general rule to remember is that when the equalized value increases, the mill rate decreases. The amount of increase in the value on a particular piece of property will determine whether the school property tax increases, decreases or stays about the same when a lower mill rate is applied.
The following equalized values for property located in the Colfax school district were included in a report in the school board packet.
The Town of Cooks Valley’s equalized value is $11.5 million, representing an increase of $287,529.
The Town of Howard’s equalized value is $36.9 million, representing an increase of $2.8 million.
The Town of Colfax’s equalized value is $83.5 million, representing an increase of $7.3 million.
The Town of Elk Mound’s equalized value is $4.5 million, representing an increase of $445,333.
The Town of Grant’s equalized value is $40.3, representing an increase of $3.2 million.
The Town of Hay River’s equalized value is $248,560, representing an increase of $18,988.
The Town of Otter Creek’s equalized value is $38.5 million, representing an increase of $634,683.
The Town of Red Cedar’s equalized value is $6.4 million, representing an increase of $267,024.
The Town of Sand Creek’s equalized value is $12 million, representing an increase of $684,043.
The Town of Tainter’s equalized value is $50.4 million, representing an increase of $2.7 million.
The Town of Wilson’s equalized value is $19.3 million, representing an increase of $887,383.
The Village of Colfax’s equalized value is $47.9 million, representing an increase of $1.4 million.
The total amount of equalized value in the Colfax school district is $351.4 million.
The property tax levy includes a little over $700,000 in debt service payments, of which $179,569 is for the energy efficiency projects, while $10,885 is for the land purchase, $60,838 is for unfunded pension liabilities and $454,888 is for referendum-approved debt service.
Other business
In other business, the Colfax Board of Education:
• Learned that Abby DeMoe has been selected as an Academic All-State honoree by the Golf Coaches Association of Wisconsin for the recently completed 2018 girls’ golf season, receiving a designation of “high honors.” Students are nominated for the designation if they have a cumulative grade point average of 3.25; participation in at least 75 percent of the their team’s varsity matches and are least a sophomore in high school.
• Learned that the Colfax school district has an immunization rate of 99.5 percent of the students.
• Learned that Colfax students had a composite score for the ACT test in 2018 of 19.4, compared to a statewide average of 20.5. In Science, Colfax students had an average score of 19.8 compared to 20.8 statewide; in Reading, Colfax students had an average score of 19.2 compared to 20.6 statewide; in Mathematics, Colfax students had an average score of 19.7 compared to 20.3 statewide; and in English, Colfax students had an average score of 18.8 compared to 19.8 statewide.
• Learned the school district had received a letter from the Department of Public Instruction stating the Veterinary Science class taught by Tiffany Schaffner, the new agriculture teacher, meets the requirements for science equivalent credits.
• Learned that Colfax has 65 students who open enrolled into the school district and has 84 students who open enrolled out of the school district.
• Learned that Colfax had a total count of 820 students as of the third Friday in September. Grades 1 to 12 has 720 students, while pre-school special education has five students, four-year-old kindergarten has 49 students and five-year-old kindergarten has 46 students.
• Approved hiring Lori Halpin, middle school language arts teacher, as the cheerleading advisor.
• Approved hiring Brett Prince as an assistant basketball coach.
• Approved Early College Credit Program applications for two students.
• Approved an updated policy on school counseling and academic and career planning on a second reading of the policy.