MONROE — Monroe School officials sought to clarify the tax impact of the $88 million school referendum, after recent tax bills showing a large increase in some cases prompted citizen electors to vote down the purchase of land on 31st Ave for a new high school site.

“We are aware the Monroe School District property owners experienced a significant increase in their school property tax bill, the majority is related to the assigned Fair Market Value within our district,” said Superintendent Rodney Figueroa, in a public statement on the matter.

School officials said they did not intend to create confusion when they initially — prior to the Nov. 8 referendum — were told of the impact on their tax bills. 

Early on, officials estimated the tax impact, or mill rate, for the district would be at $9.33 — just $0.13 higher per $1,000 of tax value than the 2021-22 school year’, and less than the previous 35 years before that. Under that scenario, the district’s tax rate would increase $13 per year on a $100,000 home, $26 a year on a $200,000 home, or $52 a year on a $400,000 home.

Now many say the actual cost impact will may be higher, although the district conceded it was referring only to the potential impact of tax bills on the building effort — even though taxes for schools could go up overall due to other factors.

“At the time numerous community members expressed confusion over the discussion of the cost of debt and its difference from the levy rate increase,” Figueroa said. “In communicating about the tax increase we did not include individual tax impacts for the referendum, which are impacted by state-assigned equalized assessed valuations…”

Thus for many homeowners, taxes increased as the value of their homes soared in what had been a red-hot housing market, he said. 

“In hindsight, the impact to individual property owners was unexpected and not well understood, until taxpayers began receiving their tax bills,” he said. “In our referendum communications, we failed to capture the potential net impact for property owners with valuation increases…”

After those bills began hitting taxpayers, opposition to the upcoming land vote earlier this month swelled and the vote on the site was narrowly defeated, although the district is working to identify alternatives. The district, officials emphasized repeatedly in their communications, did not intend to deceive taxpayers.

“We are profoundly saddened as the impact is felt in the community we exist to serve, and have disappointed our students, employers and supporters and most important our community,” said Figueroa.

To clarify their position, the district said that if a property had an increase in Fair Market Value, then last year’s property value increased $.13 per $1,000, “but the amount of increase in Fair Market Value is taxed at the full mill rate of $9.33 per $1,000.

Using the example of a $200,000 property with an increase in Fair Market Value of $40,000 which is $240,000, the homeowner would pay an additional, roughly $399.20.

School officials were unavailable as of press time Monday to comment on the status of the search for a suitable site, due to the holiday week. They continue with mostly closed-door meetings to identify the best property from a list of several they had compiled early in the referendum process.

The taxes weren’t the only issue cited about the new school project.

“Homeowners in the area had concerns about their property values, storm water mitigation, possible additions of curb and gutter, and placement of buildings,” Figueroa said after the plan to buy the 31st Avenue property failed. “There were questions about the elevation changes and perceived challenges with earth moving.”

Voters in November approved an $88 million referendum for a new high school and extensive renovations to Lincoln Elementary School. The high school was built in 1958 and suffers from extensive drainage, structural and water seepage issues.