Residents of the Suring School District will pay more than double for their share of a $3.5 million referendum passed in April.
Property tax bills issued in December reflected a charge of $116.15 per $100,000 of property. Leading up to the referendum on April 7, which passed 787-475, the estimate was $56 per $100,000 of property.
Superintendent Kelly Casper pointed to two reasons for the change: an enrollment increase and equalized value decrease.
In an email to the Times Herald, Casper said the district lost money through the state’s declining enrolment exemption because enrollment increased by nine students for the 2015-16 school year.
In addition, equalized value in the district dropped $11,000.
Suring School District resident Doug McMahon said he wasn’t shocked by his property tax bill and hasn’t heard complaints from the other Suring residents he meets for coffee in the morning. He said he values education and believes strongly in providing funding for schools.
“We’ve got to keep up our small, local schools,” he said.
“When it comes right down to it, the taxpayers have to pay to educate the kids,” said Alan Sleeter, who also resides in the district. He said the referendum earned broad support from the community and didn’t fault school administrators for underestimating the tax impact of the referendum.
“The way things change, it’s so hard to zero in on a dollar amount,” Sleeter said.
School Board member Wayne Sleeter said he was aware of the changes that led to the higher tax rate and had heard no negative comments from district residents.
“The community really rallied around the school district for the referendum. We’re really happy about that,” he said.
Referendum funding will provide the district with an additional $700,000 for each of the next five years, beginning with the 2015-16 school year. The money has been used to upgrade the district’s phone system and purchase two copy machines and about 30 Chromebooks for the fifth- and sixth-grade classes.
The district’s five-year referendum plan includes money for a curriculum overhaul, teacher training, new electronic devices and infrastructure upgrades to support the wireless devices.
Amy Kasten, special education/curriculum director, presented a seven-year curriculum rotation plan to the School Board on Dec. 9. First, the district will purchase math resources, followed by science, social studies, reading/English and the fine arts.
Casper said impact of the referendum is likely to change from year to year for taxpayers because student enrollment and equalized value is always changing.
The district made several staffing changes to balance its budget for 2016. The changes included reassigning the director of curriculum to a special education position, reducing hours for teacher’s aides from full time to part time and not replacing a second-grade teacher. The district also adjusted its contract with the Cooperative Educational Services Agency by hiring personnel instead of paying CESA to provide the services.
A tax levy of $4,486,106, approved by a dozen residents at the annual meeting Oct. 26, was up by $275,771 from last year, or 6.55 percent. The tax rate was set at $7.44 per $1,000 of equalized value, compared with $6.87 per $1,000 last year, meaning the owner of a $100,000 home pays $744 in school taxes, up from $687 last year.
Taxpayers account for 69 percent of the district’s revenue.
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