For the tax payers of the Pulaski Community School District.
The bad news is the levy goes up $8.90 per $1000.
We thank Joan and the Leader for covering the meeting.
From the Shawano Leader.
A side note. Just because the Shawano Leader was at the meeting, isn't it nice the board president is all of a sudden thinking about the tax payers. Back in September she said the 77 who voted against the levy increase was "an organized group". Those evil greedy selfish tax payers, organized and against tax increases and in front of the press, "not necessarily fair to go the taxpayer", oh really!
What a phoney!
The bad news is the levy goes up $8.90 per $1000.
We thank Joan and the Leader for covering the meeting.
From the Shawano Leader.
"Pulaski Schools refinance debtsThe other shoe to drop with worst news. A referendum is coming to jack the tax rate up through the roof. They even said the roof is leaking , kinda of like the sky is falling. They use the words, "Capital improvement"."I would hope for the tax payers they try the referendum in November 2010.
By Joan Koehne, Wolf River Media
The Pulaski School Board Oct. 21, responding to public outcry over its original proposed budget, voted to refinance the district’s debt to lessen the burden on taxpayers. Following this debt refinancing move, the district’s tax levy will experience a 6 percent increase over last year.
“We couldn’t possibly have picked a better time to do a refinancing. It turned out to be an excellent decision on the board’s part,” said Pam Kercheval, director of business services.
The unanimous vote took place five weeks after the annual meeting in which residents spoke out against a proposed 12 percent tax hike and voted down the tax levy increase with a 77-30 vote. About 90 people attended the meeting Oct. 21, but no one commented publicly.
The board approved an overall tax levy of $13.6 million, whittled down from the $14 million initially proposed. The tax rate of $8.90 per $1,000 equalized value was approved, up from $8.34 last year, but down from $9.36 in the original proposal.
The tax levy is comprised of three funds: the general fund, debt service fund and the community service fund. The board was hesitant to decrease the general fund levy, because such a move would reduce the district’s future ability to acquire funds under the state’s revenue cap. Instead, the debt service fund and the community service fund were restructured.
But the board wasn’t satisfied with these savings and instructed District Administrator Mel Lightner to find an additional $250,000 in expense reductions from the budget within the next 30 days.
One cost reduction Lightner proposed was to leave vacant a middle school clerical aide position for an estimated savings of $35,000. He also proposed a switch to every-other-day cleaning at the schools, for an estimated annual savings of $100,000.
Board member Barb McKeefry included these measures in a motion, but the motioned failed due to lack of a second. If the board approved the $135,000 in expense reductions, the district’s 2010 tax levy would have increased 5.5 percent over last year. These spending reductions were just two of more than 30 cost containment initiatives presented to the board.
While the focus of the meeting was to reduce expenditures, Lightner presented the board a proposal to spend $60,000 to repair the middle school roof this fall, due to leaks. Board members agreed the roof should be fixed, and amended their initial cost reduction instructions to Lightner, directing directed him to present a plan for $190,000 in expense reductions within 30 days.
The board’s discussion regarding roof replacement caused board members to consider the need for a capital improvement budget to address the district’s long-term needs. The district’s Excellence Task Force, formed this fall, has been studying district issues and may eventually recommend a referendum be placed before voters in the future to fund capital improvements.
“There are things we would need to include in a referendum. Capital improvement is right there at the top of the list,” said Board President Cindy Hendricks. “I also think that it’s not necessarily fair to go the taxpayers for a referendum to ask them for dollars for capital improvement when we’re not making an effort to do that in our budget.”"
A side note. Just because the Shawano Leader was at the meeting, isn't it nice the board president is all of a sudden thinking about the tax payers. Back in September she said the 77 who voted against the levy increase was "an organized group". Those evil greedy selfish tax payers, organized and against tax increases and in front of the press, "not necessarily fair to go the taxpayer", oh really!
What a phoney!
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