Monday evening, the Board of Education for the Swallow School District approved and authorized the tax levy of $5,403,183 to operate and maintain the District for 2018-19. This tax levy is a down $152,480 which equates to a 2.7% decrease from the previous year’s levy of $5,555,663. The overall tax rate decreases from last year’s $6.71 per $1,000 of home value to $6.26, a decrease of 6.7%. Both of these amounts are lower than the projected budget that was approved at the District’s Annual Meeting in August.
“This decrease in tax rate shows the careful planning of the District to provide a high quality educational experience for each student while remaining fiscally responsible. While the District faces the challenges of a reduction in state aid coupled with declining resident enrollment, this budget and resultant tax rate shows a responsiveness to resident requests for lower taxes,” said John Stahl, School Board President. “The referendum on Tuesday's ballot maintains the debt portion of the tax levy at the same amount it currently is, approximately $0.72 per $1,000 of assessed property value which makes it a zero increase referendum. Coupled with a decrease in the other components that make up the levy, District residents will actually see a decrease in their tax rate even with the passage of the referendum.”
Based on the state’s school funding formula, the District derives revenue from four major sources: property taxes and local sources (79%); state sources (12%); open enrollment revenue (8%); and federal aid (1%). On October 15 of each year, the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) certifies each school district’s state aid and revenue limit amount for the current school year. Once this state funding is determined, the School Board is required by the State of Wisconsin to approve the District’s levy amounts on or before November 1.
Anyone interested in learning more about the District’s finances is invited to contact Director of Business Services Jeremy Struss via email at
[email protected] or phone at (262) 367-2000 ext. 102.