District 197 School Board Certifies Stable Tax Levy

The West St. Paul-Mendota Heights-Eagan School Board certified their levy for property taxes payable in 2011 this week.

The school's portion of residents' property taxes will decrease slightly, according to Carl Colmark, the director of business services. Colemark presented the information at a public hearing Dec. 6.

Because school district budgets work on a fiscal calendar beginning July 1, taxes payable in 2011 provide revenue for the 2011-2012 school year.

The overall levy impact will decrease by .1 percent to $18,321,998. It is estimated that the decrease will skim $22 off the school's taxing district bill for owners of property valued at $300,000; $9 for properties valued at $400,000. Those estimates, provided by the district's financial advising firm, are based on a property value decrease of 9.4 percent over 2008-2011 and could be affected by other factors unique to each city in the district.

In 2009-2010, the district's expenditures totaled $63,611,051. In 2010-2011, expenditures are budgeted to be $60,939,830. State aid makes up the majority of the district's revenue.

Within the overall levy, an increase in the referendum levy based on updated enrollment numbers is offset by decreases in the equity levy, debt service, and health and safety levy.

Superintendent Jay Haugen said he was comfortable with the final levy, which sets the foundation for the upcoming budget process.

This is the last year of the referendum levy set to expire in 2012. District 197 voters rejected a ballot proposal this fall that would have raised the referendum to its state-mandated maximum while extending it for another 10 years.