May 25, 2015 2 min read

Carmichaels Area School Board approved a tentative budget Thursday that calls for increasing property taxes by 0.66 mills to pay for debt service on bonds for the district’s school renovation project.

The $16,007,229 proposed budget is 2.87 percent greater than the current budget.

If adopted next month as it is, it will increase the district’s property tax levy from 22.75 mills to 23.41 mills.

The revenue raised by the increase in the millage rate will all be dedicated to paying debt payments for the renovation project, business manager Amy Todd said.

Major increases in the budget were for retirement costs and health care costs, Todd said. The board also included $50,000 in the budget as a separate line item for the purchase of new text books.

The proposed 0.66-mill tax increase is the maximum the district is allowed under the inflationary index established under the Taxpayer Relief Act.

To finance the school renovations, the district had proposed issuing $25 million in bonds. The board earlier issued bonds totaling $20 million and Thursday authorized its bond counsel to prepare for the final $5 million bond issue.

The board will hold a special meeting at 2:30 p.m. June 2 to approve a resolution authorizing the sale of the bonds. It will meet at 7 p.m. on June 25 to adopt a final budget.