NEW LONDON -- A committee for the New London-Spicer School District is suggesting to increase the district operating levy by $200 per student.
During Monday's NLS School Board meeting, the Operating Levy Steering Committee recommended the district ask for a levy increase of $200 during November's general election ballot.
"Our main job is to educate our children," said committee member Ron Dobbs. "They are our main asset, and we need to take care of that."
Dobbs said the committee met twice in June to study the district's financial situation and compare it to other local districts and the state average in operating levies.
Dobbs said the proposed increase would still keep the district's levy below the state average. If passed, Dobbs said, the district's operating levy would be boosted to $597 per student.
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"The cost of running a business, whether it is a school district or a business downtown, is escalating greatly," said committee member Ryan Schwartz. The increase, he said, seemed "mandatory" to have in case an unexpected mishap, such as a leaking roof, was to strike the school district.
The committee's recommendation calls for the $200 levy increase over seven years. In case the increase isn't passed in 2008, the district still has one year left on its existing levy and could try to pass it again in 2009, Dobbs said.
If passed, the levy increase would go into effect after the existing levy expires.
The committee's recommendation was accompanied Monday by a dismal report about the district's 2008-09 budget.
Figures presented by business manager Barb Gjerde showed the district would have a $14,196 surplus from a 2008-09 operating budget of $13,118,981. By June 30, 2009, Gjerde said, the district's projected fund balance would be around $269,642 -- a figure that could not cover major unexpected costs like emergency building maintenance.
In February, early budget projections showed the district carrying a fund balance of about $260,000 into 2008-09. With such low projections, the board convened the Operating Levy Steering Committee in mid-March, hoping to determine a levy increase that voters would pass.
The board is expected to make a decision on Monday's recommendation during its July 14 meeting.
