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Owatonna board approves 5% levy increase after Truth in Taxation hearing
Summary
The Owatonna Public School District board held its Truth in Taxation hearing Dec. 9 and certified a 5% increase in the district school tax levy — a $967,743 rise for taxes payable in 2025 — after staff explained drivers such as prior-year adjustments and long-term facility maintenance bonds.
The Owatonna Public School District School Board on Dec. 9 held its Truth in Taxation hearing for taxes payable in 2025 and voted to certify a 5% increase in the district’s school tax levy, a $967,743 dollar increase, following a detailed presentation from the district’s finance office.
Lori Volz, the district’s director of finance and operations, told the board the levy increase was driven by several factors including a prior-year adjustment, an operating referendum inflation component and changes tied to long-term facility maintenance (LTFM) and related bond activity: “For us this year, Owatonna Public Schools, the increase in the school tax levy is 5%. Total dollar amount of that increase is $967,743,” Volz said during the presentation.
Why it matters: the levy is one component of district revenue; state formulas and property valuations also affect individual tax bills and, in many cases, an increase in levy can be offset by changes in state aid or by changes in property valuations. Volz and staff walked the board through examples showing how property value changes and the new state property-tax relief provisions for 2025 can affect a homeowner’s tax bill.
The presentation noted that federal pandemic-era ESSER funds that temporarily boosted federal revenue have expired, and that the district’s federal revenues will be lower next year. Volz highlighted the district’s general fund structure and explained that salaries and employee benefits comprise the largest share of expenditures.
Votes at a glance: the board certified the tax levy following the hearing. The meeting record shows the board later took several other formal actions: approving the FY2024 audit, approving a slate of policy revisions (including a separate approval for policy 5.22 and its attachments), selecting a commercial real estate firm to list the former district office at 515 West Bridal Street, accepting gifts to the district, and approving the consent agenda. All motions reported in the meeting minutes carried.
Audit and next steps: auditors from CliftonLarsonAllen presented the fiscal year 2024 audit earlier in the meeting and reported an unmodified (clean) opinion. Mary Reedy, lead auditor, summarized results and told the board, “Audit opinion, we are able to issue a clean or an unmodified opinion.” The board approved the audit before certifying the levy.
The district will forward certified levy amounts to the county auditor for tax-rate calculation. The board may revisit budget adjustments in future meetings as state aid, valuation changes and federal funding dynamics evolve.
