Council Schools Will Seek Levy of $500,000 over two years, Community Meeting to be Held; Grossen Resigns
The Council School District School Board held their regular monthly meeting on February 11 at the Council High School Library. The board had previously decided they would need to try and pass a levy this year, but had not settled on a levy amount. That discussion took center stage at this meeting.
Superintendent Brian Joyce addressed the board and said that after meeting and working on creating a budget for next year, and that if things stay the same with funding they are estimated to be over budget by around $342,000 next year. This year they also received $234,000 from the Personal Property Tax Replacement, which helped to offset part of the cost of the previous levy. They have heard that this should continue next year, but the amount will probably be much less. They don’t know the number yet but it could be somewhere between $80,000-$150,000.
The board discussed aids and whether Medicaid funding could help cover aids. Joyce said they have never seen that play out. “We have these services we have to provide and we get no additional money to provide them,” he said. The program they were thinking of was called the Katie Beckett Program and it was one of the programs that the legislature was considering cutting this year.
The average property value in the school district is $460,000 and a levy of $250,000 per year would cost the taxpayer around $50 per $100,000 of home value. So, for the average house valued at $460,000, it would cost that taxpayer $230 per year. This is before any portion of the Personal Property Tax Replacement is used to help offset, if it is continued.
There are two types of levies the board could pursue, a supplemental levy for aids and operations, which is what they are planning, or a plant facilities levy, which is for buildings. They both need a simple majority to pass. Bonds, on the other hand, need a supermajority and are very hard to pass. Midvale managed to build their new building with a plant facilities levy, Joyce said, but they had a lot of materials donated to bring the cost down.
School Board member Lynn Mendenhall said that funding the sports program helped not only the students at the school, but also many homeschoolers who participate in the sports programs. The board discussed the benefits of funding the school to the whole community, and not just the students who attended, and whether that would be enough for taxpayers to pass a levy.
The board deliberated and discussed the different considerations and constraints. While they were concerned it would be a hard sell at any number, some board members were concerned about how much they would still have to cut. In the end they decided to run a supplemental levy in May for $250,000 a year for two years, for a total levy of $500,000.
During the meeting, the school board also declared a vacancy in Zone 5 and accepted the resignation of Trustee Robert Grossen.
