Friday, Jul. 18, 2008

Olathe school board discusses tax relief

The Olathe school board discussed Thursday how it could ease taxpayers’ burden in the 2008-09 school district budget.

Superintendent Pat All said the district could defer replacement of computers and carpet and postpone general maintenance of school buildings.

“That’s how we would adjust a little bit,” All said.

All said energy-efficent strategies the district was taking and the recently passed $138 million bond issue would help.

“I think we can do it without having our schools decline,” All said. “The challenge here is this is not a sustainability plan. This is a plan to address where we are right now.”

Gary Diener, director of business and finance for the district, presented three models as capital outlay options: a 4-mill, 2-mill or 0-mill levy increase. The 4-mill model would produce a projected cash balance of about $12.8 million, the 2-mill model would produce a projected cash balance of about $10.8 million, and the 0-mill model would produce projected cash balance of about $8.5 million.

The 2009 budget will increase $10 million over 2008’s budget, Diener said. Salary increases amounted to more than $7.3 million, and health and dental insurance increased $1.7 million, he said.

One of the greater challenges the district faces is that a significant portion of its assessed valuation has gone down during the last couple of years, Diener said. The district is at a 1.1 percent valuation increase for this year. In the last three years, that level had been at least 8 percent. The 1 percent reduction of assessed valuation equates to an increase in the mill levy in Olathe of .4 mills, Diener said.

“We don’t feel it in actual dollars that come to the district,” Diener said. “Where we feel it is in the assessed valuation of our district which directly is related to the mill levy.”

The board will have a community budget workshop at 6 p.m. July 31 at the Education Center. The budget will be published Aug. 7.

Also at the meeting:

• The board discussed ways to work with the city to retain school-resource officers in junior high and elementary schools. The city plans to reduce the number of SROs in its 2009 budget. All said she has suggested to the city retaining SROs in junior high schools who could serve as support in the feeding elementary schools. Several board members said they would write proposals and meet with city staff to continue discussing the issue.

• President Kevin Gilmore recommended the board not take any further action regarding sending an informative mailing on the countywide quarter-cent sales tax revenue the district will lose after this year. Voters will be asked in August to renew the tax, but the revenue would be dedicated to public safety projects. He suggested the board only note for the record their concerns.

• The board named Rita Ashley as president for the 2008-09 school year. Debby Daniels was named vice president.

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