Residents to Vote on School Tax Levy Monday

Residents in the Menomonee Falls School District will have the opportunity to review and vote on the district's 2013-14 operating budget Monday. 

The district will hold its annual meeting at 7 p.m. in the Menomonee Falls High School auditorium. The annual meeting will be preceded by a final budget hearing at 6:15 p.m. Residents will then vote to approve the tax levy. 

The changes in the budget’s bottom line are largely due to another consecutive school year with a 15 percent reduction in state aid. The total tax levy increased 2.21 percent to approximately $39.2 million.

That means the tax rate will jump from $11.78 to $12.04 per $1,000 of assessed value. So, the owner of a $250,000 will have a school tax bill of $3,009.15. That’s an increase of $65, or $0.26 per $1,000, as compared to last year. 

State lawmakers approved Wisconsin’s Biennial Budget earlier in summer, and increased the revenue limit to $75 per pupil. The revenue limit controls the maximum level of funding the district can receive from the state and local levies. When state aid drops, as it did this year, increasing the local the tax levy makes up the difference.