Linn-Mar school board to consider reduction in property tax rate

Linn-Mar school board members will consider a 49-cent reduction in the district's property tax rate following public hearing at a 7 p.m. meeting today.

The board also is scheduled to vote on $770,000 in budget cuts that administrators believe are needed to maintain the district's financial solvency over the next five years.

The cuts, to be recommended by Linn-Mar Superintendent Katie Mulholland, slice $616,000 from the district's personnel budget and $154,000 from non-personnel expenditures.

The tax rate decrease would drop Linn-Mar's property tax rate from $20.23 to $19.74 per $1,000 of taxable valuation for the 2010-11 school year.

Linn-Mar administrators estimate that, because of changes in determining the taxable value of residential property, the owner of a $150,000 home should still expect to pay slightly more ($5.50) in annual school taxes.

Owners of commercial and industrial property of the same value, however, should see an annual decrease of $73.67.

Owners of agricultural property valued at $150,000 should see an even larger decrease, estimated at $885.88.

The hearing/meeting will be preceded by a 5 p.m. work session. Both sessions will be held in the Linn-Mar High School upper commons, 3111 N. 10th St.

-By Kevin Kane, Correspondent