Lewis Central holds budget hearing and sets published levy at $11.20 per $1,000

The Lewis Central Comm School District opened a budget public hearing April 6, and district staff told the board it will publish a FY2027 property-tax levy rate of $11.20 per $1,000 of taxable valuation. Administration said the published rate is effective once filed and cannot be increased after publication.

Miss Reyes, who presented the levy materials, said the district's uniform levy of $5.40 per $1,000 remained unchanged but a districtwide assessed valuation increase (about 16.4% overall) raises the dollars the district will collect. She said the district chose to reduce future interest costs by paying down bond principal and plans a partial levy for the management fund to cover property insurance and workers' compensation after using prior-year reserves. "State aid was set at 2% by the legislature," Reyes said, and "budget guarantee will not be funded by property taxes," with the state providing replacement payments for tax relief.

Reyes walked the board through examples of household impacts on the sheet distributed to audience members, showing that variations in individual property valuation changes could result in increases or decreases for taxpayers: one example showed a $89 annual increase, another a $67 increase and a third a $14 decrease depending on assessed-value changes. She noted a key rollback threshold: property owners with valuation increases of 6.5% or less would likely see a tax decrease from the district portion.

Two members of the public asked questions. Roger Williams asked whether the $5.40 uniform levy had changed and was told the uniform levy rate itself did not increase; higher assessed valuation increases the dollars collected on a set levy. Randy Canel asked how much additional revenue the district would receive purely from valuation increases; district leaders reiterated that the state formula (about $8,000 per student in state funding) and statutory levy components determine how much of that per-pupil funding comes from property taxes versus state allocations.

Administration said the district will publish the levy in the newspaper the day after the hearing and that after publication the district may not increase the levy rate above $11.20. The board scheduled a second public hearing for April 20, when it will also consider final adoption of the budget; the district must file its budget with the state Department of Management by April 30.

Why it matters: The presented levy rate, state aid assumptions and choices about using management-fund reserves determine next year's local tax bills and the district's capacity to pay for insurance, staffing and bond obligations. The board's choices about how much to levy this year affect whether the district draws down reserves or spreads costs across multiple years.