More state aid results in lower tax rate for Granton residents

By Cheyenne Thomas Residents in the Granton Area School District will be saving some money on their property taxes this year as the district will be receiving more state aid per student in the 2023-24 school budget. The new budget was approved at the school’s annual meeting on Oct. 23 by the eight residents in attendance.

District Administrator Nancy Popp gave a presentation on the proposed budget of $4,813,668, with $645,769 coming from local property taxes. The proposed budget amount will have $823,005.97 less revenue than the 2022-23 school budget and the tax levy will be $73,568 less than last year’s levy. The combined decreases will shrink the mill rate from $7.39 per $1,000 of property value to $5.76 per $1,000 of property value. For a $100,000 piece of property, that would mean a savings of $163 this year.

Popp explained to the residents in attendance that the biggest contributor to the lowered tax rate was an increase in state aid. The state had recently passed the new biennial budget that increased the amount of aid given per student. It had been set at $10,910.94 per student in the 2022-23 school year, but this year, the Granton Area School District will receive $11,235.94 per student.

“This year the biennial budget passed an increase for the amount of state aid given per student,” she said. “This is more beneficial to us as we got $11,235.94 per student this year.

The residents in attendance at the meeting unanimously passed the proposed budget and tax levy. In addition to the budget, the residents also approved a $50 raise to the salaries of the school board members. The president, clerk and treasurer will now receive $1,715 per year and the vice president and member will receive $1,651 per year for their work.