Melville board adopts state auditor tax-rate ceilings after assessed values rise

The Melville School District Board of Education on Sept. 25 adopted tax-rate ceilings supplied by the state auditor after a tax-rate hearing, the board voted 6–0 during the hearing to set the district’s tax-rate ceilings at the auditor’s most current schedule for fiscal year 2026. Marshall Crutcher, the district’s chief financial officer, told the board the district’s assessed values increased about 12.1% from last year and that the board’s blended operational rate fell to roughly $3.70 from about $4.00 because assessed value growth outpaced inflation.

The change in assessed value is automatic under state rules and the Hancock Amendment, Crutcher said, and not the result of a ballot measure. “We didn't do anything to change the tax rate. We had no ballots...This is just an automatic adjustment of state auditor tax rate schedules,” he said. Crutcher told the board that each penny of the rate generates about $280,000 in revenue and that the district budgets on an expected collection rate (the current-year estimate used is 96.72%, with prior-year actuals near 96.85%).

The board was shown that Proposition A’s voter-authorized portion decreased from 3.26¢ to about 2.99¢ as the regular rate fell; Crutcher said the November ballot will combine the current 2.99¢ with 2.4¢ in debt-service to reach 5.39¢ on the ballot. He also said the district has been estimating that property-tax freezes could reduce collections; he said he is conservatively assuming a 30% freeze effect for budgeting purposes and is “taking about 30% of that increase — which is a million dollars — and that’s how much I’m backing off the revenue.”

The board’s formal motion read: “It is resolved that the Melville School District, in consideration of the educational opportunities and expenses for the operational needs of the school district will set the tax rate ceilings at the most current approved state auditors rate as presented.” The motion passed in the hearing 6–0; later in the regular meeting the board confirmed acceptance of the schedules for public display and closed the hearing. No changes to employee or program tax levies were reported beyond the rates shown on the auditor schedules.

The administration said the final revenue picture remains subject to county-level tax-freeze data expected later in the year and to actual collection performance; the board did not take any additional tax-levy actions that night beyond adopting the auditor’s ceilings. The hearing adjourned and the board proceeded with its regular meeting.