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Barron News Shieldhome : news : news : top stories
Board approves 2010 budget for Barron schools
By: Eric Quade 10/30/2009
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Board members for the Barron Area School District met Monday evening and approved a finalized budget that in many regards is more modest than the preliminary version that published earlier this year.

The school board gave its OK to a property tax levy of nearly $4.8 million, down from the previous estimate of almost $5.5 million. The approved levy amounts to an increase of approximately 2 percent compared to last year's budget.

Compared to the preliminary budget, the newly approved version also boasts a lower mill rate of 11.213, rather than the previous estimate of 12.503. That still equates to an increase of nearly 5 percent from last year, however, which school officials largely blame on a drop in the district's property tax base.
The finalized budget includes a deficit of $199,201. Back in April, the district had been facing a projected deficit of $1.25 million.

Monti Hallberg, district administrator, and John Stellmacher, district business manager, attributed the levy and mill rate cutbacks from the preliminary budget earlier this year to changes in how the state calculates aid. Although the overall pot of money that Wisconsin distributes to its schools was cut this year by 3 percent, the Barron Area School District will actually receive slightly more aid under the new arrangement.
Despite the bump up in aid, Hallberg and Stellmacher expressed frustration with how the state pays the school district. For example, money due in the current fiscal year is instead pushed into the next year by the issuance of school levy tax credits. Local school officials maintain that the practice means taxpayers don't see lower school taxes upfront, schools like Barron miss out on equalized state aid and local taxpayers make up the difference.

At Monday's meeting, the board also approved issuing an $880,000 note that will fund the wood pellet boiler project at Riverview Middle School and also help close up the absorption chiller project at Woodland Elementary School. The note was issued at an interest premium of 1.5 percent with expectations to refinance it to 0 percent in January. Debt payments will be made from savings in the school district's energy efficiency projects.




©Barron News Shield 2009
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