Two school districts are asking voters to approve tax levy increase

Two mid-Missouri school districts will be going to voters on Aug. 8 to approve a tax levy that would help fund resources each school is in need of.

Officials at the North Callaway School District and Centralia School District said this tax levy is needed to help fund things such as teacher salaries, technology and transportation costs.

North Callaway School District

Proposition 1 would increase the operating tax levy ceiling to $3.88 per $100 from the current $3.13 per $100.

The 75-cent increase would mean for a $100,000 home, the annual expense would be $142.50 per year or $11.88 per month– about 40 cents a day.

The district Superintendent Bryan Thomsen told ABC 17 News, “Over the past eight years, the state of Missouri has decreased the amount of funding that has been allocated. The district has tightened their belt by cutting positions, reducing spending while trying to minimize the negative impacts of our students.”

Thirty-five percent, or $240,000, of the levy fund would go toward increasing base salaries for teachers. Fifteen-hundred dollars would be added to the base salary. North Callaway School District currently has the lowest base salary in the area.

Twenty-nine percent of the funds, or $200,000, would replace staff positions that have been eliminated over the past five years due to declining revenue.

Twenty-six percent of the funds, or $175,000, would help maintain the current bus fleet and/or replace buses. The other 10 percent would go toward technology and facility maintenance.

If this doesn’t get passed, Thomsen said the district would feel the effects when it comes to larger classroom sizes, more staff cuts, older buses and older technology.

Thomsen said the district has been dipping into reserve funding to help with costs over the years, but it’s not ideal.

The last tax levy that was passed was a 30-cent increase in 2003.

Centralia School District

The Centralia School District is asking voters to approve a 60-cent tax increase next Tuesday.

The tax levy would be the first one proposed by the district in more than 10 years.

If approved by voters, the board said the tax levy would go toward technology resources and maintaining school facilities, as well as attracting high-quality educators with competitive teacher salaries.

Superintendent Darin Ford told ABC 17 News the tax increase would help offset decreased state and federal funding, along with increasing transportation and special education costs.

The current tax levy is $4.3 per $100. If approved, an appraised property at $100,000 would see the increase of $114 a year, less than $10 a month.

Ford told ABC 17 News the levy would bring in a revenue of nearly $700,000.