Colfax school district annual meeting sets tax levy of nearly $3 million on $9.4 million budget
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By LeAnn R. Ralph
COLFAX — Electors in the School District of Colfax have approved setting a local property tax levy of $2,957,269 for the 2019-2020 school year on a $9.4 million budget.
Adjustments to the tax levy most likely will be made at the Colfax Board of Education’s October meeting, said William C. Yingst Jr., district administrator, at the Colfax school district’s annual meeting July 22.
The school district will receive notification of the official amount of state aid October 15. The third Friday in September student count will affect the amount of state aid received by the school district.
The state aid will determine whether the tax levy must be increased or decreased, Yingst explained.
The proposed budget for 2019-2020 includes total revenues of $9,453,353 and total expenditures of $9,351,233.
The proposed revenue budget represents an increase of $310,946 over the 2018-2019 budget, or about a 3.5 percent increase.
The proposed expense budget represents an increase of $279,071 over the 2018-2019 budget, or about a 3 percent increase.
The approved local property tax levy represents an increase of $150,614 over the 2018-2019 budget, or about a 5.5 percent increase.
The anticipated mill rate for 2019-2020 is $8.29 per $1,000 of property value.
The mill rate for the 2018-2019 budget was $7.99 per $1,000 of property value.
The highest mill rate since 1988 was $18.89 per $1,000 of property value in the 1990-1992 school year on a local property tax levy of $1.43 million.
The impact of the mill rate on a particular property depends upon whether the equalized value has increased or decreased.
The equalized value of property in the school district in 2018 was $351 million, compared to $331 million in 2017 and $324 million in 2017.
Estimated equalization aid from the state is $5,518,846, with $608,440 in per-pupil aid.
Current referendum debt will be paid off in March of 2037. All together, the school district will have paid $10.29 million, with $3.35 million of that being interest.
Resolutions
The resolutions approved at the school district’s annual meeting were all approved unanimously and were the routine resolutions approved at every annual meeting, including:
• A resolution authorizing the school district president to provide for the prosecution or defense of any action or proceeding in which the school district has an interest.
• A resolution directing the school board to furnish hot lunches to any and all of the pupils in the school district and to pay for any deficiency resulting from the lunch program from the general fund.
• A resolution authorizing the school board to sell personal property belonging to the school district no longer used or needed for school purposes and authorizing the school board to determine which personal property is no longer used or needed and to sell by auction or private sale and for whatever price the school board feels is reasonable, proper and in the best interest of the school district.
• A resolution authorizing pay for school board members: $95 per meeting for all school board members; school board president and school board clerk to be paid $1,050 per year; school board directors to be paid $700 per year. The resolution also authorizes mileage to be paid for attending meetings within the district, and in the event school board members are required to travel outside of the district on business pertaining to affairs of the district, that they be paid up to the Internal Revenue Service accepted mileage rate plus actual and necessary additional expenses incurred in such traveling. The salary for the school board members shall be for the period of one year starting on April 30, 2020. Each district board member also will receive $200 per day, less payroll taxes, to attend the state school board convention.
• A resolution setting a tax levy not to exceed $2,957,269 with the understanding adjustments will be made in October following the September membership count not to exceed state allowable level.
• A resolution authorizing the school board to engage in short-term borrowing for cash flow purposes if necessary.
• A resolution stipulating the October school board meeting remain the third Monday of the month due to the October 15 equalized aid release date and for setting the tax levy; changing the April school board meeting to the fourth Monday of the month to align with the state statute to install newly-elected board members; moving the regular board meeting date in July of 2020 from July 20 to Monday, July 13; moving the annual board meeting date from the fourth Monday of July to the third Monday in August.
• A resolution authorizing the school district to exceed the revenue limit on a non-recurring basis by the amount the school district will spend on new energy efficiency measures and renewable energy products for the 2019-2020 school year in the amount of $179,569. The school board has identified the following required performance indicators to measure the energy savings and/or energy cost avoidance in an amount equal to the exemption request: propane bus upgrades with infrastructure; upgrade unit ventilators in the the elementary school; upgrade from pneumatics to DDC in the elementary school; install VFDs on HW pumps and AHU-1; roofing upgrades; building envelope; indoor lighting upgrades; IT upgrades, including wireless/infrastructure, data center, unified communication/emergency notification. An evaluation of the energy performance indicators will be included as an addendum in the required 2019-2020 published budget summary document and in the school district’s newsletter or in the published minutes of the school board meeting.