Despite referendum dollars, mill rate expected to drop
By Kellen Olshefski
SLN Staff
At its May 23 meeting, the Elkhorn Area School District Board of Education got its first chance to review the district’s preliminary budget for the 2016-2017 year.
And as for Elkhorn taxpayers, it seems this budget could be a positive.
According to District Business Manager Bill Trewyn, despite borrowing about $20 million for district wide capital projects through a referendum passed in April 2015, based on current projections, the tax levy and mill rate are expected to drop a little more than 1 percent.
“It’s early in the process, but the overall levy looks at this point like it will actually be going down,” he said.
Compared to last year’s tax levy of $18.9 million, the estimated preliminary levy for 2016-17 is at $18.7 million, a decrease of $214,000. For taxpayers, this would result in a 1.11 percent decrease in the mill rate, or about 12 cents for every $1,000 of equalized value.
In more simpler terms, for someone with a $150,000 home who paid $1,620 for the 2015-16 year, homeowners could expect to pay $1,602 in the upcoming year, $18 less.
However, to be clear, the mill rate and tax levy are nowhere near set in stone at this time and preliminary estimates are based upon estimated state aids, district valuation and student enrollments.
Trewyn said at the May 23 meeting what made pulling this year’s preliminary budget together a bit easier was that being in the second year of a state budget, the district has a good feel for what the perimeters are in terms of pulling together a budget.
