Board OKs maximum levy

by Paul Rignell
Contributing Writer
The Elk River Area School Board on Sept. 26 approved a maximum levy that will be assessed directly to property owners in District 728 next year for funding school operations in the year which begins next fall.
Technically, a school district’s fiscal year starts in July.
The district’s maximum levy will be $41.055 million next year, which would mean an increase of 2.97 percent over the 2016 levy of $39.87 million that supports the current school year.
The largest potential dollar changes within the general fund levy to take effect next year are in the voter-approved referendum levy (a possible increase of $417,014, up to $7.16 million for taxes payable 2017) and in a long-term facility maintenance levy. That specific amount could grow by more than 100 percent, from $615,485 in the 2016 levy up to $1.477 million.
The impact of those increases would be offset by decreases in other areas of the levy, including a drop of $206,160 for operating capital.
Also, the district’s overall debt service obligations will reduce by about $887,000 for 2017, according to current numbers.
Total school levies that are approved for the following year can be lowered by each December, when taxes to be assessed for the next year must be certified.
Local levies do not cover all of a district’s funding for a fiscal year. The balance is covered by state support or appropriations, and District 728 Assistant Director of Finance Joe Primus explained the Minnesota Department of Education is finishing final updates for the past year on enrollment and expenditure data.
When those updates are available, if the local board decides to reduce the levy, they likely must choose where to make adjustments and discuss how that could affect the next year’s programming, Primus said.
District 728 Executive Director of Business Services Greg Hein explained at the Sept. 26 meeting that local levies will rise, complemented by reductions in state aid, when overall market values grow in a district.
He noted that property values trend upward with increased commercial and residential construction in a district.
Board members announced they will open a public budget and tax hearing Dec. 12.