Mount Pleasant Area SD presents budget with proposed 1.5‑mill increase; cyber charter costs highlighted

The Mount Pleasant Area School District’s business manager presented a proposed budget that includes a 1.5‑mill tax increase the board will consider at a vote next week.

The presentation laid out scenarios showing how different millage increases would affect the district’s projected deficit and fund balance, and flagged major cost pressures including rising health insurance premiums, cyber charter tuition, vocational center enrollment increases and capital needs such as a replacement maintenance truck and classroom device refreshes.

The business manager said, "1 mill for us generates a little over a $156,000 in tax revenue." He told the board a homeowner with the median assessed value would pay about $1,614 in total real estate taxes at the budget’s proposed millage rate and that a 1.5‑mill increase would raise that homeowner’s tax bill by about $25.40. He added that larger homestead property tax relief this year — $40.98 per median homestead — would more than offset part of the increase so "the median taxpayer will pay $15.88 less in taxes this year." The budget document…