School Board Approves Preliminary Property-Tax Levy, Budget

The good news: The South Washington County School Board is reducing its property-tax levy from last year's level.

The bad news: Reductions in state aid means taxpayers in District 833 probably won’t see much of a break.

At Thursday’s school board meeting, the board approved a budget for the 2012-13 school year that is .21 percent lower than the 2010-12 budget.

The total budget is just over $53,580,000—about a $113,000 decrease from last year’s budget.

District 833 is only levying 23 percent of the max amount allowed by the state, which Superintendent Mark Porter said is a good thing because it shows the district is in a strong financial position.

However, during the past legislative session, lawmakers nixed the Market Value Homestead Credit (MVHC), which will lead to higher property taxes for most homeowners.

The MVHC provided property-tax relief on homeowners' primary residences, while the state reimbursed that amount to cities to make up the difference in their levies, according to the League of Minnesota Cities. The impact its repeal will have on cities, counties and school districts is not totally clear yet, but they'll likely be seeing less money as a result.

Even if a school district levies the same amount this school year as last, residents in districts that keep the levies the same will have to pay a slightly higher amount on their property taxes because of the MVHC exclusion, District 833 Finance Director Aaron Bushberger said.

“The state was chipping in (to help offset property-tax levels), but under the new law they won’t be doing that,” Bushberger said.

What that exact amount will be is determined by home values and other factors. Bushberger said the district would have a better idea of what residents’ property taxes will be in relation to the district’s levy when the district has more financial information by December.

Due to the government shutdown, receiving all the pertinent financial information districts need to determine just how much money they need to levy has been backlogged.

The District 833 School Board normally has its preliminary levy and budget squared away by the end of September, but that date got pushed back until October this year because of the shutdown.

said the district is fortunate it’s not seeking a referendum from taxpayers this year to fund its levy.

“The elimination of the homestead credit is really wreaking havoc on districts that are going for a levy referendum,” he said. “I think it’s a good thing that we’re not out in the referendum market, because it will probably be a bad year.”

The first opportunity for residents to comment on the proposed district budget and levy is 6 p.m. on Dec. 1 at the District Service Center.

At the board’s Dec. 15 meeting, the final levy amount needs to be certified so the county and the Minnesota Department of Education can approve it.

Because the board set its max levy amount at the meeting, that total cannot go higher before it’s certified. It can be lowered, however.

“The levy cannot go higher than this, it can only go lower and we’re expecting it to go a little bit lower (because of the sale of bonds),” Bushberger said. “That will be incorporated into our final levy.”