NEW LONDON -- The New London-Spicer School District will seek an operating levy increase of $200 during the general election ballot.
After two weeks of considering the options presented by a district committee, the NLS School Board approved a resolution Monday levy referendum in November.
During the district's June 23 meeting, NLS' Operating Levy Steering Committee recommended the district seek an operating levy increase of $597 per student.
According to a previous report the levy increase would go into effect when the existing levy expires in 2010. It would remain in place for seven years.
Superintendent Paul Carlson said Monday the levy would impose an additional $36 a year in taxes for the owner of a $400,000 home.
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Should voters not approve the levy increase, the district would have to option to present it again in 2009.
The levy proposal comes in light of a recent report on the district's financial struggles.
Figures presented June 30 showed NLS as having a $14,196 surplus from a 2008-09 operating budget of $13,118,981.
By June 30, 2009, the district's projected fund balance would be around $269,642 -- a figure that would not cover unexpected costs like emergency building maintenance.
Carlson said Monday the district has received almost no negative feedback about the levy proposal. A member of the Operating Levy Steering Committee, however, did tell Carlson that if the district increased the levy, it would also be letting "our state legislators off the hook" regarding public education funding.
In other business, the board set the filing date for candidates running for a school board seat. Candidates can file their affidavits of candidacy, along with a $2 filing fee, between Aug. 26 and Sept. 9.
