Superior property taxpayers will probably pay more this year when the school district sets the levy rate in October.
The district is anticipating a 4.6 percent increase.
"We're not far off from the '04-05 levy," said Jack Amadio, business manager. "The '05-06 levy went down substantially ... by about 3 percent."
As most districts anticipate receiving less state funding for their budgets, property taxes could be a burden for many. Property taxpayers in Superior can expect to owe the district $665,433 more than last year, or $15,054,854. It will likely cost $8.11 per thousand dollars of property value to operate schools this year.
"If they don't reassess your property, if it stays the same, you pay less," Amadio said. "If it goes up a lot, you're going to pay more."
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The projected 2006-07 school year budget is roughly $43 million, about $1.2 million more than last year's budget and less than a 3 percent increase.
Amadio said the district didn't do anything different from last year.
The amount of state aid is entirely dependent on legislative appropriation, Amadio said. "Every district in the state of Wisconsin tells you, 'we held the line on the levy.' That's baloney" because school districts can't influence state funding.
An added cost for the district this year is 4-year-old kindergarten.
Because funding from the state doesn't kick in for three years, money will come from the district's fund balance to pay for it. This year, it will have a price tag of about $654,000 and will decrease thereafter. Energy costs will also be an issue, but Amadio said program cuts will not be made.
"I think we're going to make it work the way it is," he said, adding that some attrition and fund reallocation will help.
Since the 1993-94 school year, the levy rate has gone up 23.5 percent, Amadio said.
