Supt. Morgan outlines Colfax levy proposal

Colfax school district is mere weeks away from running a greatly increased levy proposal in front of district voters Feb. 9.

Due to the looming threat of the state legislation yanking levy equalization funds for the next school year, the district is asking for an almost 40 percent increase in the levy as insurance.

“What we’re asking the community to do is pay for what the state has so far been responsible for,” said Supt. Michael Morgan Jan. 12 to a small audience in the high school cafeteria.

Voters will be asked to approve a maintenance and operations levy of $1.3 million for each of the next two years, up from the current levy of $930,000.

Morgan has said in multiple interviews that if the state does decide to continue equalization funding, the district will roll back the excess levy amount to tax payers if voters approve the levy.

This means if levy equalization goes untouched, instead of being tagged for the full $1.3 million, voters will pay around $1,040,000, Morgan said.

Levy funds from the state for Colfax next school year are projected to be around $325,000, he said.

“We’re just trying to protect our programs and our students,” Morgan said.

The $1,040,000 figure is $65,000 more than the result of a $325,000 subtraction from $1.3 million. Morgan said that $65,000 will still be needed to continue other under-funded programs.

The proposed levy rate for 2011 would be $4.08 per $1,000 of assessed property value.

With a levy of $1.3 million in 2011, the local owner of a $200,000 home would pay about $816 a year, up more than $200 from the current rate, Morgan told the audience.

District business manager Reese Jenkin provided a detailed breakdown on how the 2009 levy has been used. Morgan presented projections on the use of the 2010-2011 levy at the meeting, Jan. 12, (see graph on page 2).

A breakdown of the proposed 2011 levy process is as follows:

Number one expense, roughly $500,000, would go to staff positions funded by district dollars, namely classified assistants and clerical support, and to pay health care and sick leave benefits for those employees.

Number two expense is extra-curricular programs like athletics, prep band, ASB, musicals and problem-solvers, running about $275,000.

Third is technology, costing about $170,000, for replacing computers and servers.

Fourth is $170,000 for grounds and facilities maintenance, such as maintaining classroom furniture, kitchen equipment and copy machines.

Another $60,000 would go to new textbooks for students.

A breakdown of the 2009 $910,000 levy is as follows:

Number one expense was district-funded staff, namely classified employees, which accounted for 33 percent of the total levy, $303,589.

Number two was extra-curricular programs, 28 percent of the total levy, $260,550.

Number three was grounds and facilities maintenance, 17.6 percent of the levy, $129,527.

Number four was technology, 14 percent of the levy, $129, 527.

The remaining six percent of the levy went to textbooks and classroom supplies, costing $56,095.

A quick sketch of the district’s overall 2008-2009 budget expenditures, $6,541,714, is as follows.

The number one expense, (43 percent of $6,541,714 in expenditures) for the district was certified (teacher or administrator) salaries.

The number two expense was employee benefits, 20 percent of $6,541,714.

The number three expense was salaries for classified staff (such as teacher’s aides or classroom aides), for 16 percent of overall expenditures.

The number four expense, using 11 percent of the budget, is purchased services, such as the school’s student database and the school’s operating software.