Cliff Buchan
News Editor

All may be well with the taxing picture on the school front, but one resident of District 831 says school officials need to take stock in what other governmental agencies are doing.

Dick Tschida, Forest Lake resident and former school board member, addressed the board at its Truth in Taxation hearing Nov. 30. While Tschida handed out praise for the job the school has done in holding the line on property taxes, he said the district should be aware of what is going on in cities and townships.

Tschidaís message was this: If the district has hopes of passing its own operating levy plan next November, it is going to have to combat a spate of other tax hikes in cities and towns.

Tschida, who is a city councilman-elect, said the school district could be put in a bad light by tax hikes that are spinning down to other local governments.

While ISD 831 had no new operating levy to tack on to its property tax share for 2005, the district has also benefitted from a growing property valuation base.

During its tax hearing last week, Larry Martini, director of business affairs, presented figures that show the districtís tax levy for all funds will drop next year by 3.9 percent. That should mean little or no tax increase for the schoolís share of the property tax bill, he said.

The key exception are cases where a property has a significant gain in the market valuation used to determine the property tax.

The districtís proposed levy for school taxes payable in 2005 is $12.1 million or a decrease of $495,000 from the $12.6 million that was payable in 2004.

The two major factors in the decrease are a $425,000 adjustment for prior year funding and and a drop of $194,000 in levy authority for health and safety projects. Both spending areas fall within the general fund.

And all the while, Martini said, the district has been able to replenish its undesignated general fund surplus to near $1.9 million. That comes only three years after the district was mired in statutory operating debt.

Tschida, who has been a past critic of some school financial practices, was totally the opposite last week. After hearing Martiniís report, Tschida said the district canít be criticized for the tax and spending plan.

He described the budget and tax plan as ìvery austere.î

But the district needs to be cognizant of what other area governments are doing, he warned. Major tax increases are on the table in Forest Lake, Wyoming and Linwood to name but three communities, he said.

How their citizens respond to property tax hikes could be a factor on the districtís plans to seek a new operating levy to stave off future budget cuts.

ìThe cityís meeting (tax hearing) was full,î Tschida, said commenting on Forest Lakeís tax hearing on Nov. 29. ìI wish some of you would have been there.î

An added problem, he said, was the constant growth of market valuation that helps drive up property taxes.In light of the new level of taxation at local levels, Tschida said the task would be to find and motivate partners to support the school cause.

The tax hearing, Martini said, was recommended and set by the school board even though it was required by law. In cases where the tax rate goes down, no hearing is required, he said, but officials felt it best to spell out the plan for the public.

Tschida was one of two residents to attend the hearing, another indicator of the decline of school taxation.

The other resident, a Linwood Township property owner, presented tax statements that show her property tax doubling. But that was not the result of any school decision.

A major jump in taxes came from spending and taxation plans in Linwood and Anoka County while the womanís property was reclassed to seasonal recreational and was hit with a state general tax minus the homestead classification.

While the city of Forest Lake has concluded its tax hearing process, the matter is yet to be resolved in Wyoming and Linwood. The Linwood Town Board is to take up the matter Tuesday, Dec. 14 while Wyoming City Council is still deliberating its final levy for taxes to be collected next year.

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