The Burlington School Board will likely be raising it’s property tax rate during the 2016 Fiscal Year.
While the school board voted during a Monday night meeting to publish a .96 cent tax hike, from $15.43 per $1,000 assessed valuation to $16.39 per $1,000, Business Director Chris Stensland says that she doesn’t expect the tax to end up being that high, but because the state of Iowa has yet to agree on the allowable growth rate for schools in the state, they have to take advantage of what’s called “budget guarantee”.
A Budget guarantee allows the school to maintain funding levels on its own by raising local property taxes. While she predicts that the rate hike will be closer to around .35 cents, she says that even if the worst happens, it still will be less than previous numbers.
“If we would end up with a .96 increase, which I don’t anticipate, we would still have a tax rate lower this fiscal year than it was five years ago,” said Stensland.
Stensland says that lawmakers in Des Moines are punishing the average taxpayer by not doling out cash to the schools. Many schools across the state are utilizing the budget guarantee option in case the legislature doesn’t award funding.
If that .96 cent rate hike ends up coming to frutition, a house valued at $100,000 would pay $69 more this year than last.
The budget proposed at the board meeting included around a $1 million surplus. The district is bringing in more and spending less overall than last fiscal year.
