Area school taxes on the rise
By Chris Walker, Star-Times
Over the past two weeks, four of the five Juneau County school districts' school boards have voted to raise their tax rates due to less state aid and lower property value.
Equalized valuation of property for a school district is calculated by applying a state formula to the assessed property value. The figure created is the total a district may then draw their tax levy from.
The tax levy is drawn through use of a mill rate, a percentage of a property's equalized value applied as an annual tax. The mill rate is calculated as $1 of tax to every $1,000 of equalized property value.
For example, if a school district sets their mill rate at $10, then a house valued at $100,000 would pay $1,000 in school taxes.
Generally speaking, when a district's equalized valuation drops, they must either make cuts, raise their mill rate or both in order to draw the same tax levy as the year before.
Add to this situation a statewide decrease in state aid to school districts, and one can understand the dire financial straits Juneau County districts have found themselves in.
For the complete story, please see the Wednesday, October 28 issue of the Juneau County Star-Times.