5 days Ago By Will Costello
The Thompson School District Board of Education voted 4-1 to set the mill levy rate for property owners within the school district Friday morning, shortly after the three counties that the district operates in passed similar measures last week. The approved motion set the school district’s mill levy rate at 44.883 mills, with each mill representing one dollar of tax per $1,000 of taxable assessed valuation.
The rate represents a 2.123 mill increase from 42.76 mills last year, and a 0.
011 mill increase over the preliminary rate of 44.872 presented in August of this year, the result of shifts in assessed value within the district. The sole no vote on the measure belonged to Nancy Rumfelt, who proposed an amendment to the resolution offering a temporary tax credit to keep the mill levy rate at last year’s level of 42.
76 mills. “I think this would go a long way towards generating goodwill within the community,” Rumfelt said. She added that her thoughts were clarified after reading post-election comments submitted by voters who voted against two proposed revenue-generating measures that failed during the November election.
“Reading those comments, the overwhelming theme is that there’s a huge trust deficit with the community. One was that they can’t afford any more taxes, and two, accountability and transparency.” The amendment was voted down 4-1, with Rumfelt the only yes vote.
Board member Stu Boyd said that he would vote against the amendment, saying that the school district’s funding was already insufficient due to what he described as outdated state legislation, as well as noting that the failure of the two measures in November meant the district was already struggling financially. “Due to all of these factors, and because my responsibility as a school board member is to make sure that our students have the very best opportunity they can to learn, I can’t support a motion that would take $6 million out of the school district budget,” Boyd said. Board member Dawn Kirk also explained her reasons for voting no, echoing Boyd’s points and elaborating on the benefits of a well-funded education system to the community, as well as the negative impacts that less well-funded schools have on educational outcomes.
She also pointed out the positive effect that strong school districts have on property values, and the net benefit that paying higher property taxes has on household finances. “I myself am paying more money, just like everybody else is,” Kirk said. “But I’ve also seeing the greatest increase in my property values that I’ve had in my lifetime in this community.
So I’m creating generational wealth for my children.”.
