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LUHS Levy Up 5 Cents Per $1,000 Valuation

Wikimedia Commons GP Reimer

Homeowners and other property owners in the Lakeland Union High School district will see a 2.4 percent increase in the tax rate to support the 2020-21 school budget, following the electorate’s approval Monday at the district’s annual meeting.

The vote was unanimous to approve the $11,866,781 levy, which makes up nearly 80 percent of the financial support of the school. Other major funding sources are state equalized aid, federal title funds and grants. In total the levy is up about 5 percent or $561,000.

Director of business services Greg Kopp had recently projected a tax rate of $1.91 per $1,000 of valuation. Some last minute changes reduced it to $1.87, a nickel higher than the prior year. For a home valued at $100,000 the owners will pay $187 for the high school this coming year.

There’s also a projected 2.5 percent increase in the district’s equalized valuation, which helped decrease the tax rate. The district’s valuation is pegged at $6.36 billion.

The tax rate has been consistently under $2 per $1,000 since the 2007-08 budget, with the exception of a couple of years when it hit $2.03 and $2.07.

Budget up 1 percent

The 2020-21 net total expenditures are $17,731,559, up by about 1 percent over the unaudited 2019-20 budget of $17,572,206. (The budget document shows $20.1 million in gross total expenditures, but Kopp explains that $2.37 million of that is interfund transfers.)

Overall, the all-schools budget (including charter STAR Academy) shows a surplus of some $84,000. Nearly 64 percent of the expenditure budget goes for salaries and fringe benefits for teachers and other staff. There’s been a few staffing changes, with the net effect a nearly $67,000 reduction in costs. Transportation costs are up 2.6 percent and facility renovation costs are down $92,000.

Transportation costs will eat up 7 percent of the budget with debt service payment (for bonds, etc.) taking up just over 6 percent. Taking care of the building and grounds, including equipment and supplies, accounts for 7.6 percent of the total budget.

The district will pay about $1 million toward debt retirement this year.

Who has the final say?

By state law voters at the annual meeting have the power to adopt the levy. However, state law also provides that by Nov. 1 of each fiscal year, the school board must certify the amount of taxes needed to operate the school system for the ensuing school year.

Your tax bill is not yet complete. Queuing in the tax line are the elementary school, Nicolet College, town and county governments, and the state.

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