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Mahtomedi board certifies $17.22 million levy; median homeowner faces roughly $152 annual increase
Summary
At its Dec. 16 meeting the Mahtomedi Public School District board adopted a final levy of $17,215,511.82. District staff said the change is driven primarily by a step-up in the voter-approved operating referendum; the median owner-occupied home in the district would pay about $152 more per year under the district estimate.
The Mahtomedi Public School District on Monday adopted a final tax levy of $17,215,511.82 for taxes payable in 2025, following a Truth in Taxation presentation by district staff member Tim Erickson.
The levy certification was approved by voice vote after Erickson reviewed levy components and impacts. Director Donna moved to approve the certified levy; Director Peterson seconded. Chair Stout called the question and the motion carried by voice vote.
Erickson said the levy package includes a step-up in the district's voter-approved operating referendum, raising the referendum amount from $12.95 per pupil to $15.70 per pupil. "This and this particular levy includes the step up," he said, explaining that the step-up accounts for the majority of the roughly $983,000 increase in the general fund levy components described in his presentation.
In his budget review Erickson walked the board through the types of levies the district collects: voter-approved levies (operating referendum, capital projects and debt service) and discretionary levies such as long-term facilities maintenance, the safe schools levy and lease levies. He said changes in enrollment, estimated versus actual revenues and expenditures, and the independent audit at year end all affect final levy results.
Using county market-value estimates the presentation showed a median market value in the district of $518,000. Erickson told the board the district's estimate for the median homeowner's tax impact was an increase of about $152 annually compared with the prior year. He reiterated the figures are estimates and described the statutory filing steps the district must complete after adoption, including submitting the Truth in Taxation compliance certificate to the Minnesota Department of Revenue and delivering the certified levy to the home county auditor.
Board members asked clarifying questions about the unassigned fund balance and drivers of the projected deficit. Erickson and Superintendent Duffin told the board that wages and benefits (including higher transportation contract costs and rising health-insurance expenses) are principal cost pressures and that the district had also made $700,000 in prior-year budget reductions to limit program impacts.
The board approved the levy by voice vote with no recorded dissents. The district will file the adopted levy with the county auditor and the Department of Revenue within the statutory deadlines.
