By Tracy Ouellette
SLN Staff
At the Aug. 29 School Board meeting, East Troy School District Business Manger Kathy Zwirgzdas recommended a small increase to the tax levy to be presented to the public during the Sept. 26 annual meeting.
“I’m recommending a .3 percent tax levy increase,” Zwirgzdas said. “Hopefully we will not exceed that in October when the final numbers come in.”
Zwirgzdas told the board she wouldn’t know the final levy until the final student count are in from the third week in September and the property values on Oct. 1. She said she left the property values the same as last year in her budget calculations, even though they were expected to rise this year.
“I didn’t change the property values at all and kept the tax rate at $10 flat, up from $9.97 from last year,” Zwirgzdas said Wednesday morning. “Because I don’t get those numbers until Oct. 1, I didn’t want to change that.”
Even though the increase is not set, Zwirgzdas reminded the board that because the building referendum financing came in at such favorable rates, the building projects didn’t increase the tax levy much and, as a result, there wouldn’t be a large increase this year for taxpayers.
Fitness Center fees
The board listened to a presentation on use and fees for the high school’s new Fitness Center at the Aug. 29 meeting.
Officials at the high school are recommending a $72 annual fee for the public to use the center. Student athletes from the school won’t be charged to use the center, but other high school students will be charge $60 a year. Middle school students will not be charged a fee because the district wants to encourage them to participate in athletics. The center will be open to the public in the late afternoon/early evening hours during the week.
The board didn’t take action on this as the presentation was informational only.
