Highlands School Board expected to approve 1% tax hike for next school year

Highlands School District residents will likely pay slightly higher property taxes, about a 1% increase, next school year.

The school board on Monday approved a $50 million preliminary general fund budget, which calls for a 0.25-millage increase, from 24.88 to 25.13 mills.

The owner of a home assessed at $100,000 would pay an extra $25, from $2,488 to $2,513.

Lori Byron, the district’s executive director of business affairs, cited inadequate revenues as the reason for the tax bump.

Simply put, expenses exceed the amount of money coming in to the district, she said.

Byron said the last time Highlands raised its property tax was for the 2018-19 school year “and our state revenues have increased very little over the past several years.”

The board is expected to vote on the final budget at 7 p.m. June 20.

The proposed budget sees about $47 million in expected revenue and about $50 million in expenses.

Byron said the district has met its budgeted goal of 88% collection rate for real estate taxes, the primary source of revenue.

She said the budget is built on needs, not wants, that will provide students with a quality education.

Of the budgeted expenses, nearly $20 million goes to salaries; $12 million for benefits; $12 million is spent on services, such as transportation and charter/cyberschool tuition and special education outside- placement tuition; and about $6 million on other expenses, such as capital improvements and debt service principal and interest.

“The general cost of everything has increased over time, and our revenues have not kept pace with the increase in our expenses,” Byron said.

The board is considering a hefty workload in safety upgrades throughout the district for next year, but the projects are expected to be covered by money received through the federal Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief program.

“We are planning to do some mechanical equipment upgrades — air handling units, duct work, electrical work and a dust collector system in the Tech Ed Department — replace or upgrade existing water coolers with water bottle fillers throughout the district, and do curbs and sidewalks,” Byron said.

In April, the board heard a $3.2 million proposal from DRAW Collective architectural firm, which included work at each building.