Posted: 8/6/03

Board delays decision on levies

Cliff Buchan
News Editor

On paper it may make sense. But will voters in ISD 831 buy another request from the school board for additional operating dollars?

Itís a question the school board must answer soon as it prepares for its Nov. 4 election. An operating levy request and additional levies to provide funds for technology upgrades and gifted education programs are all being reviewed for possible ballot questions.

The board had its first look at the financial impact of the levy proposals Monday and elected to continue the discussion at a special meeting at 6 p.m., Thursday, Aug. 14 at the District Office Building.

Any possible levy questions would be just one part of the Nov. 4 ballot. The district will also elect five seats of its seven-member school board this fall.

As it reviewed proposals Monday and discussed teacher staffing requests for Scandia Elementary, Superintendent Lynn Steenblock said ìsomething has to give.î As the district faces a time with little or no new state aid, the decision has to come down to more local revenue or less spending by the district, he said.

But there may be value in moving ahead with a second excess operating levy this fall to augment the levy approved by voters in Nov. of 2001. That levy, approved for five years, nets the district $650 per pupil or $5.94 million a year from local property taxes and state equalization aid.

In its review Monday, Larry Martini, director of business affairs, provided financial details outlining the impact of the legislative changes this session that impact the equalization aid paid by the state.

Under the new formula passed by the legislature, the state equalization aid increases from $126 per pupil to $405. That will translate into lower property tax bills next year if nothing is done.

Here is how it will work, Martini said.

For a district resident with a home having estimated market value of $150,000, the current tax impact for the operating levy now in place is $259.78 in 2003.

Based on the new formula for state equalization aid, the tax impact on the $150,000 home will decrease by $64.22 to $195.56 in 2004 if nothing is changed.

If the district received voter approval to raise the maximum of an additional $223.36 per pupil from a new local operating levy, the tax impact would be an additional $34.62 for a home with market value of $150,000.

The $34.62 would be added to the $64.22 for a total tax increase of just under $100 for a home with value of $150,000, Martini said.

Under such a proposal, the district would collect the maximum of $2,044,565.96 as a local operating levy in excess of state aid.

The district is also looking at a second potential levy option that would raise $1.5 million of new local levy revenue. Based on the new equalization formula, that would mean a tax hike of $8.80 a year for the home with market value of $150,000, Martini said.

What to do?

The school board is yet to decide what to do but may move closer to a decision when it meets next week on Aug. 14.

Board members requested the delay on Monday to allow for study of the figures and to hear comments from the public.

The board continues to address its budget dilemma. Earlier this year the budget cut $805,000 from its general fund for the 2003-2004 school year.

A major concern is the 2004-2005 school year budget.

Based on relatively no new state aid, growing costs to operate the district and the potential loss of 50 students and $300,000 in state aid to a Spanish Immersion charter school, the board is facing serious budget cuts this winter.

The district has said it will likely need to trim $2.25 million in general fund expense for the 2004-2005 school year if new revenue canít be secured.

The district managed the $805,000 cut without hitting the classroom, but such steps wonít be possible with cuts in the area of $2.25 million, officials said.

How the board shapes any new excess operating levy is also to be decided.

One proposal aired Monday would make the new levy good for three years, putting it on the same track as the existing operating levy now on the books. Such a move would put renewal of the two levies on the same voting schedule.

Other needs

The board must also decide what to do with other needs identified by two committees studying technology needs and gifted programs.

To deal with needs in these areas, the board is considering capital projects levies. Such levies require voter approval but the plans must be approved by the state education department before going on the ballot.

The district is weighing a number of options for the two areas.

For technology, a task force has suggested the possibility of a seven-year bond that would raise $2 million, $2.5 million or $3 million each year.

For those three possibilities, a home with market value of $150,000 would see a respective tax impact of $91.61, $114.51 and $137.41 a year for each of the proposals.

To fund gifted programs, a district task force has identified needs and options that would require annual new spending of $250,000, $350,000 and $450,000.

Those three options would result in a tax impact of $11.45, $16.03 and $20.61 a year for each of the respective options for a home with market value of $150,000.

The last move to upgrade technology in the district came in 1996 when voters approved a $6 million bond levy to improve this area. Gifted education programs have been targets for cuts in recent years as the district opted to protect classroom instruction at the expense of high potential programs.

How the ballot would be structured is also up for debate.

Steenblock said the board must decide if the questions would stand on their own or if approval of one would be contingent on approval of another.

Because of the uncertainty of voter reaction, Steenblock said the final decision may come down to offering one or two questions and not moving ahead with all of the proposals at this time.

Staffing request

The financial dilemma facing the district also came into play Monday as the board went about a time-consuming discussion that led to the approval of an administrative recommendation to hire an additional half-time teacher at the Grade 1 level at Scandia Elementary School.

Some 27 parents from the Scandia area went before the board with a plea for additional staff at the first grade level where three sections now have a projected 78 students.

The board agreed in principle that a fourth section and fourth full-time teacher would be ideal but the financial considerations and similar enrollment figures at other elementary schools created a fairness issue the board was not willing to address.

The board almost delayed the half-time position to a later meeting in August, but eventually agreed to move ahead. The decision will allow the school to get its staff in place and to set kindergarten schedules tied to staffing decisions. The board felt a delay would give it more time to see how a half-time person would be used for the three sections.

But the request from the Scandia parents did not escape the levy talk.

One parent told the board she had been supportive of the 2001 levy under the idea it would protect class size but she was no longer willing to be patient if the district could not keep its pledge.

Another woman said it was ìinfuriatingî to hear the district discussing ways to raise levy dollars for technology and gifted programs when class size levels at some grade levels were at unacceptable levels.

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