(Spirit Lake)– There’s good news for taxpayers in the Spirit Lake Community School District.
The school board Monday evening reviewed a budget for the upcoming fiscal year that reflects a reduction in the tax asking. Superintendent Tim Grieves says it will go from $11.55 per one thousand dollars of valuation to $10.94…a decline of nearly 61 cents per thousand valuation. Grieves says even though the tax rate will decline, the district will still be able to increase its cash reserve somewhat in an effort to improve the district’s solvency ratio which has dropped to a critical level in recent years. Grieves says an increase in property value in the district and continued reductions allowed them to do that. For instance, Grieves says one teacher…a science teacher…will be eliminated at the Middle School due to a decrease in enrollment; and a position at the High School will be reduced to part-time. Otherwise, Grieves says the staffing will be the same as this year.
The district will be getting only 63-thousand dollars in new money from the state in the upcoming year, thanks mostly to a stagnant enrollment. And Grieves doesn’t see that trend changing anytime soon. He’s hopeful the district will gain students next year to help offset a decline of 36 students this year, but overall he expects enrollment to remain stagnant the next several years, inspite of all the new houses going up in Spirit Lake.
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