Colby K-12 lowers mil rate from $9.11 down to $8.06
The property tax mil rate for residents of the Colby School District was dropped by over a dollar at the Oct. 21 school board meeting.
Based on the board’s action, the mil rate will drop from $9.11 per thousand dollars of property value down to $8.06 per thousand, a decrease of $1.05.
As a result, the owner of a $100,000 home will see the school district portion of their tax bill drop from $911 down to $806 for next year. Prior to this decrease, the mil rate had been at $9.11 for four years in a row.
The $8.06 mill rate will generate a total tax collections of $3.4 million, which includes about $1.8 million for general expenses and $1.6 million in debt payments.
The local tax levy is part of an overall 2021-2022 budget that calls for $13.8 million in anticipated revenues and $13.6 million in expected expenditures.
Superintendent Steve Kolden said he normally likes to avoid big dips in the mil rate, but the district received a huge influx of funds from Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) as part of federal COVID-19 relief.
Normally, in order to keep the mil rate from rising and falling too much at once, Kolden said the board “over-levies” to pay down more debt. With all of the extra ESSER money, however, he said the district would have had to overlevy by $1 million — which he considered too high.
Kolden told the board that the mil rate decrease is not permanent.
“Our mil rate will go back up when those ESSER dollars go away,” he said.
Other business
_ According to the third Friday count of students, the district has a total enrollment of 1,004, including 301 at the high school, 203 at the middle school, 396 at the elementary, 41 at Little Stars Academy and 24 at the Rural Virtual Academy. The total enrollment also includes open enrolled students.
_ The board approved the hiring of Brandon Homeyer as a co-National Honor Society advisor, Alexandria Sacia as a virtual learning coordinator and Melissa Kunze as a virtual learning instructional aide.
_ The board approved the 2022 summer school dates as the weeks of July 11, 18 and 25 (four days per week).
_ The board approved a $9,975 contract with Neuman Pools, Inc. to repair cracks in the tunnels around the high school pool.
_ The board approved the purchase of a new scoreboard for the football field, at a cost of $32,000, from Stratford Sign Company. The district plans on ordering the scoreboard now so it arrives in time for the fall of 2022. Kolden said donations will be solicited to help cover the cost.
_ In closed session, the board was informed that special education teacher Natalie Raymond has been given a raise of $3,659 to match a job offer from the Marshfield School District. The raise brings her salary to $44,557.
