District property tax levy sees slight increase
January 19, 2017
Moorhead Area Public Schools’ property tax levy will see a smaller increase than expected. The 2017 levy will increase only 1.1 percent, down from earlier estimates, according to Brandon Lunak, assistant superintendent of finance and operations.
Following a presentation by Lunak at the Dec. 12 School Board meeting, board members approved a resolution to certify the district’s 2016 Payable 2017 Property Tax Levy, which provides revenue for the 2017-18 school year. The total levy amount is $17.7 million, which is an increase of $195,254 from the 2016 tax levy.
Most of the change in the levy amount is because of an increase to referendum revenue as a result of higher enrollment and a decrease to state referendum aid. Additionally both equity revenue and the Community Education fund increased. The debt service levy decreased because of the lower interest rate on the bonds sale and use of carryover funds from the previous year. The operating capital for facility and equipment expenditures decreased, but state aid increased to offset the reduction.
Factors that affect whether a tax bill for an individual property increases or decreases include changes to a property’s value, changes to the total value of all property in the district, and increases or decreases in levy amounts caused by changes in state funding formulas, local needs and costs, voter-approved referendums and other factors. Lunak noted that the district does not have any control over individual property and district property values being adjusted.
Included in this year’s hearing was information about the economic development property tax abatement that the City of Moorhead, Clay County and Moorhead Area Public Schools approved in September 2014. The district’s estimated abatement for the 2016 assessment is $346,000 for the 400 properties (384 new and 16 remodeled) that qualified for the abatement. The actual amount, which is approximately $100,000 more than this year’s amount, will be included in next year’s levy.
As a normal course of business, the board approved the maximum for the preliminary levy in September. Certifying the maximum for the preliminary levy allowed the district to make adjustments before the final levy was certified on Dec. 12.
A revised budget for fiscal year 2017 will be brought to the board in January. Next year’s budget will be adopted in June 2017.
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