Area school districts set budgets, tax rates, but some questions remain

Several Corridor school boards met last night to hold public hearings on and approve their districts' budgets for the 2011-2012 school year. By state law, the budgets must be certified by Friday.

There are still some question marks, though, because the state Legislature has not yet settled on next year's allowable growth rate, which is the year-to-year increase in how much money a district can spend. Republican Gov. Terry Branstad and the Republican-led House want the figure at zero percent, while the Democrat-controlled Senate wants to set it at 2 percent. If they don't come to an agreement, the rate will default to zero.

Also of note: Owners of residential property will be paying taxes on a larger portion of their holdings next year. The state's rollback formula - which determines the percentage of such a property's value that's subject to taxation - is increasing from 46.91 percent of assessed value to 48.53 percent.

Cedar Rapids

The Cedar Rapids district's spending plan includes revenues of $254.2 million and expenses of $261.9 million. The discrepancy eventually will be made up, Executive Director of Business Services Steve Graham said; it's because of a delay in the way flood recovery projects are reimbursed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. FEMA doesn't pay up-front for its flood-related project costs, meaning the district is bankrolling costs for its new administrative building and will be reimbursed at a later date.

The new budget includes a levy rate of $15.16 per $1,000 of taxable valuation - slightly less than this year's rate of $15.17 per $1,000. At that rate, the owner of a home assessed at $100,000 will pay $736 in Cedar Rapids school property taxes next year, up from $712.

Graham stressed that the numbers are preliminary and will change when the detailed line-item budget is completed in May and June.

“We are still waiting for a decision in Des Moines about what our funding will be,” he said.

One percent allowable growth would result in a levy rate of $14.98 per $1,000, while 2 percent would mean a $14.86 levy rate.

“It is certainly in the community's best interest to see allowable growth anything but zero,” Graham said.

Prior to approving the budget, Scott Olson, a registered architect and commercial real estate broker with Skogman Realty, spoke to board members regarding the process of disposing district property damaged in the 2008 flood.

Five district properties were damaged by the floodwaters, including the ESC administrative building, the carpenter paint shop and the annex building.

Olson said the process will involve developing a criteria to evaluate the proposals the district receives. Money, he stressed, isn't the only consideration. Proposals also will be evaluated for their impact on the neighborhood.

“Each building offers several opportunities,” Olson said. “It will be interesting to see what comes out of the buildings because each one is different.”

Board members will decide at the April 25 board meeting if Olson will be the district's representative during the disposal process.

College Community

College Community's $74 million certified budget, which also assumes zero percent allowable growth, will keep property tax bills basically flat.

Next year's spending plan lowers the tax rate to $16.57 per $1,000 of taxable valuation, from $17.20 per $1,000 this year. At the $16.57 rate, the owner of a home assessed at $100,000 will pay $804 in College Community property taxes next year, down slightly from $807.

Linn-Mar

Jim Green, a retired Rockwell Collins employee and former Linn-Mar board president, told school board members at last night's public hearing that he “really appreciated” that they were able to reduce the district's tax levy, especially in the current financial climate.

The $93 million budget drops Linn-Mar's tax rate to $18.55 per $1,000 of taxable value, down from this year's $19.74 per $1,000. At that rate, the owner of a home assessed at $100,000 will pay about $900 in Linn-Mar property taxes, down from $926 this year.

Board efforts to reduce the levy started with a promise not to raise the overall levy if voters approved a 67-cent increase in the physical plant and equipment sub-levy. The PPEL increase, from 67 cents to $1.34, was approved by voters and is included in the budget approved last night.

Marion

Infrastructure expenses are behind an increase in the Marion Independent district's tax levy next year.

The $37.2 million budget increases the tax rate to $17.10 per $1,000 of taxable valuation, from this year's $16.31 per $1,000. At that rate, the owner of a home assessed at $100,000 will pay about $830 in Marion school property taxes, up from $765.

The primary impetus for the increase is that the district must begin paying off $8.8 million in bonds that were authorized by voters for the reconstruction of Vernon Middle School.

Reporters Meredith Hines-Dochterman and Patrick Hogan and correspondent Kevin Kane contributed to this report.