The Warren County R-III School Board held a special meeting Aug. 25 to set the new tax rate for the district. The board voted to approve lowering the tax rate to $3.5509, which is the operating rate …
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The Warren County R-III School Board held a special meeting Aug. 25 to set the new tax rate for the district.The board voted to approve lowering the tax rate to $3.5509, which is the operating rate the district is allowed to levy, according to the state auditor’s calculation.Last year the tax rate ceiling was $3.5610.The total tax levy is $4.1698, down 1 cent from last year’s levy of $4.1799.Director of Finance Tony Chance says despite the decrease, the district would still see an increase in revenue as a result of increased assessed valuation.Last year property in the district was assessed at $267,637,410, whereas this year it increased by nearly $7 million to $274,816035.“A lot of that change has to do with new construction that could benefit us,” said Chance.Since the 2005-06 fiscal year, the debt service levy has been $0.6189, below the amount the district is allowed to levy.“We generally conservatively try to budget flat and maybe add a little bit for new construction,” said Chance. “If we get more than we budget, then we’re happy with that. We don’t really want to get caught off guard with the levy going below what we predict.”Chance says the change will have minimal impact on property owners in the district. He says a homeowner with an assessed valuation of $100,000 would see a decrease of $1.91 over the course of the entire year, figuring out to just 16 cents per month.“For all intents and purposes it generally remained flat,” he said. “We did have an increase in assessed valuation within the boundaries of school district, so that should allow us to generate more revenue.”For every 1 cent per $100 of assessed valuation, $27,500 is generated. The estimated revenue from a $4.1698 levy would be $11,459,279.“The assessed valuation we received from the county and the calculation that goes to the state auditor’s office gives us in return what is called a tax rate ceiling,” said Chance. “From that, we calculate what our different rates are for our different funds.”As for the assessed valuation, residential ownership made up 60 percent, with personal property at 21 percent and commercial at 15 percent.Tax rate
