Posted: Oct. 27, 2009

Muskego — Despite some "nay" votes, the majority of the 60 or so residents at the Muskego-Norway School District annual meeting approved a 2.88 percent increase property tax levy Monday for the current 2009-10 school year.

There was some feeling that the levy should not increase at all, considering the financial strain many residents are experiencing.

But school officials said the major school cost - staffing - must by law be locked up in May. In addition to that, it was not known until summer that state aid would plummet $1.6 million. If the entire aid reduction had been passed on to the taxpayers, the levy probably would have risen more than 6 percent, estimated Scot Ecker, director of business services.

The question came up as to whether more money could be taken out of the district's fund balance to keep property taxes from going up. The district is already proposing to use $900,000 of fund balance in each of the next four years for property tax relief.

But Superintendent Joseph Schroeder said taking more would just make a hole in the budget that would have to be made up the next year.

The $900,000 the district is already taking would not leave a hole because it is being used for debt payments and the debt will be gone in four years, he said.

The School Board met after the annual meeting and certified the levy at $32.8 million. The previous levy was $31.9 million. The board also approved the $67.3 million budget for 2009-10.

The 2009-10 budget is 1.62 percent higher than the $66.2 million district spent in 2008-09. The general fund, known as the operating budget, is 1.2 percent higher than in 2008-09. It is $52.2 million compared to last year's $51.6 million.

 

- Jane Ford-Stewart