Concerned people show up
Athens School District residents want to make sure their schools remain financially stable without a large hit to their pocketbooks
Athens School District administration provided The Record-Review on October 26 with accurate numbers on the school portion of property taxes school district residents would pay for each of the next two years if the $1.67 million operational and $5.525 million capital improvement referendum questions pass during the Tuesday, Nov. 8, election.
The recurring operational referendum question on the election ballot is asking Athens School District residents to allow the school district to exceed the state revenue limit by $900,000 in the 2022-23 school year and $1.67 million per year thereafter for day-to-day operations and maintenance expenses. Athens School District will have a $900,000 budget shortfall in 2022-23 and would need to cut staff or student programs if it can’t pass an operational referendum.
Athens School District’s capital referendum asks school district residents to allow the school district to borrow $5.525 for the middle/high school addition and school district facility improvements. The list of capital projects include replacing the high school track and retaining wall, installing a new Athens Elementary School playground, replacing the roof and buying a generator at Maple Grove Charter School in Hamburg and replacing rooftop HVAC units on the school buildings that provide heating, cooling and ventilation in the classrooms.
School administration provided the following breakdown of how school district residents’ school portion of their property taxes will be affected by passing the operational and capital referendum questions on November 8. The estimated school mil rate for 2022-23 is $7.81 if only the operational referendum passes. This equates to the owner of a $100,000 equalized value, not assessed value, home paying a total of $781 in school taxes and the owner of a $200,000 house paying a total of $1,562 in school taxes in 202223. The school property taxes would be the same in 2022-23 if both the operational and capital referendum questions pass, because the capital referendum debt won’t take effect until 2023-24.
The estimated school mil rate is $11.76 in 2023-24 if only the operational referendum passes. This means the owner of a $100,000 equalized value house would pay $1,176 in total school property taxes and the owner of a $200,000 home would pay $2,352 total in school property taxes in 2023-24.
Athens School District administration said the estimated school mil rate is $12.84 in 2023-24 if both the operational and capital referendum questions pass. This equates to the owner of an equalized value $100,000 house paying $1,284 total in school property taxes and the owner of a $200,000 home paying $2,568 total in school property taxes in 2023-24.
Future school tax impact estimates included conservative estimates on enrollment, state equalized aid and a 2 percent increase in property values. Any changes to the aforementioned variables will change the estimated 2023-24 mil rates. In addition to changes in the school district’s tax levy and mil rate, the individual taxpayers’ school levy impact can change from year to year due to changes in assessed value, assessment ratio, resulting fair market value and the school levy credit.
