Thursday, July 22, 2009

Tax rate stays flat in USD 343

by Clarke Davis  

Perry-Lecompton USD 343 taxpayers might see a decrease in the levy by a mere fraction of a mill if a proposed budget by Superintendent Denis Yoder is adopted in August.

The board held a special meeting Monday night in Perry to review the budget and approve it for publication.

A local option budget at 30 percent of the general fund — the maximum allowed — will cost taxpayers 22.365 mills, up from 21.828 last year.

To even it out, the bond and interest levy will go down from 8.958 to 8.306.

The LOB will reap 42 percent of the funds from state aid or more than $870,000.

Added to these two levies will be a 3-mill capital outlay levy and the 20 mills assessed by the state for a total of 53.671. Last year’s levy was 53.774.

The district will base its budget on a student population of 954.5, full-time equivalency. This is last year’s enrollment, while the actual count is expected to be closer to 941.

Given all the weighted factors, the enrollment increases to 1,717.2 students and this figures is multiplied by the base state aid per pupil, $4,012 or $6.8 million.

The budget hearing will be held at the regular board meeting Aug. 9.