Manhattan-Ogden school board OKs public hearings for budget, revenue neutral rate

AJ Dome, The Manhattan Mercury, Kan.
·2 min read

Aug. 5—Public hearings on the Manhattan-Ogden school district budget and revenue neutral rate are set.

The school board voted Wednesday to authorize district director of business services Lew Faust to submit the proposed budget for fiscal year 2022 for publication. The budget proposal, along with a public notice stating the district will exceed the revenue neutral tax rate (RNR), will be published as a legal notice in Saturday's edition of The Mercury.

The hearing on the RNR will be at 6:15 p.m. Sept. 1, with the budget hearing immediately following at 6:25 p.m. Both hearings will be at the Robinson Education Center and will allow members of the public to learn more about the proposed budget.

The district budget is $134.6 million, an increase of $5 million from the FY21 budget of about $126 million. The proposed budget has a property tax rate of 61.619 mils, which is down 0.026 mils from the 2021 fiscal year. A mill is $1 for every $1,000 in assessed, taxable property value.

With that rate, the owner of a $100,000 home paying $662.98 in 2021 would pay $678.22 in 2022, considering the average value of an existing single-family home in Riley County increased by 2.2%. This would be an increase of $15.24 or 2.2% from 2021.

The RNR is the rate intended to generate the same revenue from property taxes as levied the previous year, while using the total assessed valuation from the current tax year. The rate would be lower when property valuations are up and higher when valuations are down.

The revenue neutral rate uses the general fund, which the state requires to remain at 20 mills, and the capital outlay fund, which is used for school maintenance projects. For 2022, the RNR is at 27.684 mills while the school board's proposed rate is 28 mills, which is the same as 2021.

The district's assessed valuation for FY 2022 is at $738 million, an increase $8.4 million over the prior fiscal year. District debt is at $229 million, which is an increase from the previous fiscal year's amount of $217 million.

Faust said instruction costs account for 51% of total expenditures for the district at $57.3 million. Budget documents from Faust also include information on educator salaries in the district. He said average salaries for teachers would increase from $60,969 for the 2020-21 school year to $62,005 for 2021-22. Classified personnel — including custodians, bus drivers, paraprofessionals and food service workers — also would see a salary boost from an average of $37,981 in 2020-21 to $38,867 for 2021-22.

School board members have yet to approve the actual budget. They can only hold that vote after both public hearings Sept. 1. Once the budget is published in The Mercury Saturday, it cannot be increased.