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On May 29, 2008 the Board of Education voted to place an item on the
August 5th ballot asking the voters to maintain 20 cents of the operating
tax levy that is due to expire after 2008. The 20 cent levy is approximately
$4 million of the District’s budget that is used to provide quality
educational programs to the students of the community. If approved the
District’s tax rate will not increase.
Each year since 2005, the Board of Education has voluntarily rolled back 25
cents of the tax levy to the taxpayers of the community. Due to new
legislation, Senate Bill 711, the District will not have the ability to
annually elect to either collect or roll back a portion or all of the 25
cents voluntary rollback in reassessment years. This new legislation has
presented the Board of Education with three options::
1) Ask the voters to approve extending the 20
cents for an additional five years
2) Begin collecting the 25 cents voluntary
rollback
3) Reduce the budget by $4 million
For more detailed information on each option, please click on one of the
links above.
Option 1 – Ask the voters to approve extending
the 20 cents for an additional five years
In 2004, the voters approved an 89 cents increase to the operating
tax levy. The 89 cents was divided into two parts: 1) 69 cents was to be
a permanent increase and 2) 20 cents was to be in effect until 2009. On
August 5, 2008 the voters will have the opportunity to cast a vote to
extend the current 20 cent tax levy for an additional five years. If
approved, it will not increase the tax rate the District has levied. It
will provide for the continuation of the high quality educational
programs that are so much a part of the Francis Howell School Community
by allowing the District to continue to collect the revenue levels
comparable to prior years.
Option 2 – Begin collecting the 25 cents
voluntary rollback
Through sound fiscal management the Board of Education has been able
to voluntarily roll back 25 cents of the levy to taxpayers. This option
would end that rollback and more importantly would cause an increase to
taxpayers on the December 2008 tax bill. If the Board of Education does
not collect the rollback in 2008, SB 711 restricts the District from
collecting it in a reassessment year.
Option 3 – Reduce the budget by $4 million
This option obviously by its nature has some negative effects.
Cutting money from the budget results in a loss of instructional
programs and people. The effect of losing the 20 cents levy is equal to
losing $4 million a year. This is not a small number to overcome and
would require each area to give up something. Approximately 81.7% of the
District’s total budget is spent on salaries and benefits. Another 6.7%
is expended on transportation. This leaves 11.6% for all other operating
expenses such as: utilities, instructional supplies, maintenance and
general supplies.
The District has demonstrated sound fiscal management through the
years as evidenced by the voluntary rollback. Reducing the operating
resources of the District any further would impact the quality of the
educational offerings and in the end affect the students of the
community.
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