The District #18 Board of Education is used to beginning their meetings when the sun is going down, not coming up.
But Tuesday was different as public hearings were held on the 2022/23 school budget and tax asking.
Beginning at 8 a.m., the school board held two public hearings.
The first, on the budget, lasted 23 minutes and included comments by five of the eight district patrons who came to the hearing. Each asked questions regarding budget increases, special ed costs and insurance deductibles provided to staff.
The second hearing, on the tax levy, lasted one minute as there were no public comments.
Following the hearings, the board unanimously approved the budget and tax asking.
What did they approve?
• A fiscal year operating budget totaling $5,561,204. One year ago the operating budget was $5,175,914.49
• Total personal and real property tax requirement totalling $3,290,639.
That breaks down to $3,088,619 for the general fund and another $202,020 for the special building fund.
One year ago, the tax requirement was $2,540,404 ($2,323,232 general, $217,172 special building fund).
• The new combined 2022/23 tax rate is 0.444113. One year ago the tax rate was 0.360375.
