Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Budget topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
District staff preview budget, tax levy and public hearing schedule; mill rate to rise slightly
Summary
District administrators presented updated assessed-value comparisons and a draft budget-ad notice, saying the district's mill rate is estimated to rise from $4.50 to about $4.66 and that budget-hearing notices will run beginning July 17; staff said they are absorbing health-insurance and pension cost increases.
Hancock County school administrators presented tax-assessment comparisons, a draft public notice for budget hearings and a preliminary estimate of the district's mill rate for the coming year.
Staff said data received from the state and the NDE (state tax-assessor reporting) indicated the district would see a small increase in assessed value; preliminary estimates show the district's mill rate moving from $4.50 to approximately $4.66, an increase staff described as a roughly 3.7% change and about a $16,000 revenue increase based on current valuations.
The district circulated a draft ad for public budget hearings; staff said the ad will begin running July 17 and will include scheduled hearing dates leading into the official budget process. Administrators asked departments to participate in budgeting this year to better align spending requests with program needs.
Staff emphasized budget pressures: they expect to receive the same state dollars as last year but must absorb an anticipated health-insurance increase the district expects to be about $513 per month per employee beginning in January and a 0.5 percentage-point PERS increase for employees. Those items will be incorporated into the coming fiscal-year budget.
Administrators also reported ongoing review of coding and accounting items within the budget — for example, bus-liability insurance and copy-machine costs that previously had been booked in other lines — to better reflect actual departmental costs.
Staff said final numbers were expected by the end of the week and that the district will publish the finalized budget notice and hearing dates as required.
