LITCHFIELD -- The Litchfield School Board examined a few financial options Monday regarding a possible increase to the district's $300-per-student operating levy.
Superintendent Bill Wold said he presented a financial overview of the district Monday along with comparative operating levy figures from other school districts.
In previous weeks, Wold said, the school board has discussed the idea of conducting a referendum during November's general election but has not taken any formal action.
"We've been giving information to the board for the past year on the finances and talking about the operating (levy) referendum," Wold said Tuesday. "And this was kind of a capstone picture of what we've been talking about."
Wold's presentation depicted the district's declining revenue since the 2002-03 school year. Much like other neighboring districts, Wold said, Litchfield has seen its total fund balance diminish, in particular, from $1.039 million in 2002-03 to $160,330 in 2006-07.
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As of the 2008-09 school year, Litchfield has a 10-year, $300-per-student operating levy that was passed in 2002. The levy generates $642,475 annually with 30 percent state aid, according to Wold's presentation.
Wold said the presentation's larger focus was comparing Litchfield's levy with the levies of neighboring districts. Wold's graphs showed that, of 13 area school districts, 10 had higher levy rates than Litchfield. Levies ranged from $242 per student in the Watertown-Mayer School District to the $1,075-per-student levy the Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City School District will introduce in 2009-10.
Wold said those figures, along with the $760-per-student state average, were "moving targets" because many levies would change within the next few years.
"You've heard the story how well over 90 percent of school districts have an operating (levy), but it's pretty much a fact of life," Wold said. "In order to operate, districts are going to have to have an operating (levy)."
Concluding the presentation, Wold displayed the financial outcomes and related property tax effects if the district were to adopt levy increases of $200, $300 or $400 to the per student rate. With any of the presented options, Litchfield could generate more than $1 million annually in additional revenue.
Wold said the School Board will further discuss the district's levy options during its July 28 meeting.
