Royal school board to ask voters for larger levy

ROYAL CITY - The Royal School District board of directors passed a resolution on Monday asking patrons to vote in February for a larger local tax levy for operation and maintenance of schools.

The current levy is for a collection of $1,135,000, same as last year.

This will be a two-year levy. The first year collection amount will be $1,350,000 with an expected tax rate of $2.20 per thousand. The second year amount will be $1,370,000 with an expected tax rate of $2.20 per thousand.

The important number is the collection amount. That is what voters actually approve. The actual tax rate will depend on property value assessments at the time of collection.

The levy election will be held in February. Levies are for two tax collection years at a time. Royal passed the current levy with 62 percent favorable votes.

According to Superintendent Rose Search, several factors were putting pressure on the board to raise the levy amount. The pressure was coming from ever-increasing enrollment, the new school under construction, and a drop in state levy equalization funds.

One of the challenges, business manager David Andra said, is not knowing what the levy equalization amount will be in the next two tax years. So far he knows only that it will be lower.

The new school, naturally, will have the same level of need of levy support as all existing schools, Andra said.

Levy funds are used to support programs that are not supported by the state or are only partially supported by the state. Extra curricular activities are a good example. The state does not fund them.

Twenty-nine percent of levy funds go to the support of sports, music, drama and after school clubs.

"These are programs that parents ask for so that their kids have something to do after school," Search said. "This community has very few after-school jobs. What we have for kids is what we offer at school."

The support of extra-curricular activities includes the cost of three activity buses. They are made available after school to make sure all students get home safely.

"They are dropped off at central locations," Search said. "They are not taken directly to their front doors."

Levy funds also go to the support of general transportation, (8%), technology (3%), and support staff (custodial, maintenance) (14%). The largest share, (46%), goes to teaching.

Search noted that in the last five years enrollment has increased by 210 students or 15 percent. Kindergarten has grown from 110 students to 152.

"Because of this influx, we have had to increase the number of kindergarten teachers to seven," she said.