C-M tax increase proposed
Canon-McMillan School District is grappling with a preliminary budget deficit of more than $1 million, and one solution being considered is to raise taxes by 2.4 mills for the 2015-16 school year.
Business manager Joni Mansmann said the proposed millage increase would generate about $937,000, and the remaining budget shortfall of $444,585 would be funded by the district’s debt service fund, which had about $4.5 million as of the June 2014 audit.
Mansmann said she will recommend the 2.4-mill increase during a budget and finance meeting March 26. The proposed final budget will go on public display the following day.
She attributed the necessity of raising taxes to a 4.4 percent increase in the contribution to the Public School Employees’ Retirement System for the 2015-16 school year.
“That equates to a $1.1 million price tag, and that price tag is basically what our deficit is,” she said.
School districts are required to pay the designated rate set by PSERS, and Mansmann said retirement contributions will only continue to increase.
“It’s just going to keep snowballing,” she said.
The district also is projecting a 5 percent increase in health care costs, at about $130,000, for the 2015-16 school year.
One mill of the proposed increase would be allocated for the construction of a new Muse Elementary School. The maximum cost of the project will be $31,001,782. The district plans to fund the project by issuing a 20-year general obligation bond and raising the district’s millage rate by 3.21 mills over the course of three years. One mill currently provides about $375,000 in collected taxes to the district.