MONROE - A lower-than-expected increase in property values throughout the district will mean the school tax rate will be 23 cents more than announced at the Monroe School District's annual meeting Oct. 20.
The tax rate set last week was $11.45; the final tax rate will be $11.68 per thousand dollars of valuation. That translates into a tax bill of $1,752 for school purposes for the owner of a $150,000 home or $4,720 for the owner of a $400,000 farm.
The district's 2008-2009 budget of $11.5 million hasn't changed. "The needs and priorities haven't changed, so the expenses haven't changed," said Business Administrator Ron Olson.
And, he said, the tax rate can be misleading.
The levy itself, or the total amount the district will need to charge taxpayers in order to meet its projected expenses, will actually be $11,510, 902, slightly less than the $11,512,145 set last week because the district will receive more aid than expected. The levy for 2007-2008 was $11,644,200.
The district built the budget in September assuming the district's equalized value would increase 4 percent, Olson said. New figures show property values in the district total $985,561,524, an increase of 1.92 percent over last year's total valuation of $967,014,807.
Valuations varied throughout the district. The largest increase in valuation was in the town of Washington, which had an increase of 9 percent in valuation. The lowest increase was .09 percent for the town of Jefferson. The City of Monroe's valuation increased 1.84 percent.
The total levy is divided by the total valuation to yield the tax rate, or the amount per $1,000 of property value taxpayers will be charged. So, even though the tax rate might be slightly higher than expected, the value of each property is slightly lower, Olson said.
Regardless, district taxpayers will pay less for the Monroe school system than they did last year. The tax rate for 2007-2008 was $12.04, which translated to a school tax bill of $1,806 for the owner of a $150,000 home and $4,816 for the owner of a $400,000 farm.
The tax rate set last week was $11.45; the final tax rate will be $11.68 per thousand dollars of valuation. That translates into a tax bill of $1,752 for school purposes for the owner of a $150,000 home or $4,720 for the owner of a $400,000 farm.
The district's 2008-2009 budget of $11.5 million hasn't changed. "The needs and priorities haven't changed, so the expenses haven't changed," said Business Administrator Ron Olson.
And, he said, the tax rate can be misleading.
The levy itself, or the total amount the district will need to charge taxpayers in order to meet its projected expenses, will actually be $11,510, 902, slightly less than the $11,512,145 set last week because the district will receive more aid than expected. The levy for 2007-2008 was $11,644,200.
The district built the budget in September assuming the district's equalized value would increase 4 percent, Olson said. New figures show property values in the district total $985,561,524, an increase of 1.92 percent over last year's total valuation of $967,014,807.
Valuations varied throughout the district. The largest increase in valuation was in the town of Washington, which had an increase of 9 percent in valuation. The lowest increase was .09 percent for the town of Jefferson. The City of Monroe's valuation increased 1.84 percent.
The total levy is divided by the total valuation to yield the tax rate, or the amount per $1,000 of property value taxpayers will be charged. So, even though the tax rate might be slightly higher than expected, the value of each property is slightly lower, Olson said.
Regardless, district taxpayers will pay less for the Monroe school system than they did last year. The tax rate for 2007-2008 was $12.04, which translated to a school tax bill of $1,806 for the owner of a $150,000 home and $4,816 for the owner of a $400,000 farm.