NLS School Board approves max levy; prelim numbers show 4.5 percent increase

NEW LONDON -- The New London-Spicer School Board approved certification Monday of the maximum 2012 levy payable in 2013.

The preliminary tax levy will be finalized in December. As is the usual practice, Todd Netzke of School Management Services, the district's business management provider, recommended that the board approve the maximum levy instead of a specific number to allow district officials flexibility.

The preliminary numbers presented by Netzke Monday show a 4.51 percent increase in the overall levy amount. However, those numbers will likely change, he said. The general fund preliminary number showed a decrease of $90,883 from the 2012 to the 2013 levy.

The dollar amount of the reduction will likely change significantly, Netzke said, because the student enrollment numbers have not yet been made official with the state. The student count, labeled as average daily membership, is taken on Oct. 1.

According to the preliminary numbers, the levy total is estimated at $4,222,074, an increase of $182,388 over the $4,039,686 of last year.

The board expects to set the final levy amount at the Dec. 10 regular school board meeting. The approval passed on a 5-0 vote, with board member Holli Cogelow Ruter arriving at the meeting after the vote was taken and board member Renee Nolting absent from the meeting.