School administration lobbying to prepay debt, keep levy higher 

Letter to the editor:

Here we go again. Our school district is receiving more money than expected from the state which means the school’s portion of the property tax levy will decrease by 8.5%. The administration is lobbying the school board to prepay $1.8 million in debt to keep the levy at a higher level. Neither the administration or the school board is actively advertising the fact that residents of the school district will have an opportunity to cast a non-binding vote on both the budget and the levy at the school district’s annual meeting on August 15th. They should both be doing so.

Information, as presented by Nathan Knitt, director of business services, in a memo to the board and the district’s superintendent, dated July 18, follows:

“At the Board of Education meeting on July 18, 2024, I will be sharing the second draft of the preliminary budget for 2024-25. I will not go into detail in the presentation like last month as the only major chance was DPI (Department of Public Instruction) has released the aid estimates that will impact the tax levy. The district, making only the minimum required payment on the referendum debt, is projected to see a tax levy rate decrease of 8.5%. The board may consider defeasing debt to maintain the existing tax levy rate. The amount the board could levy that would keep the tax levy amount the same from 2023-24 to 2024-25 is $1,800,000.

Ewin K. Bos

Fort Atkinson