More wealth in district makes Geneseo school taxes flat – Quad City Times
WHAT WE KNOW: The proposed 2021 tax levy for Geneseo schools is $18,028,203, which is $891,425 or 5.2% more than last year’s levy.
WHAT’S NEW: School board members on Thursday approved the tentative 2021 tax levy. For the levy purpose, the district estimated total equalized assessed valuation at $420,000,000, up 5.2% from last year’s $399,054,124. Business Manager Tim Gronski said he expected the actual equalized assessed valuation to be closer to $415,000,000, but he used the higher figure so as to avoid leaving money on the table. The increased wealth means that the district is able to levy more, but still see individual taxes fall slightly. The owner of a home with a market value of $200,000 assessed at $66,666 would have the school portion of his property taxes fall by $1.13 from $2,862.70 to $2,861.57. Gronski showed a chart of school district tax rates in Henry and Rock Island counties revealing Geneseo has the lowest tax rate. He noted there is a “low property tax rate but very high property values in Geneseo” that allow the district to bring in sizable revenues. He said the district was running deficits in many funds that justified raising the levy. Separately, Superintendent Adam Brumbaugh noted real estate is “hot” in the district, and Northside Grade School alone has 40 more students this year who didn’t attend last year. “We’re ready to receive whoever moves into our community,” he said.
WHAT’S NEXT: The board also approved a resolution of intent to issue $4 million in financing bonds for the proposed vocational education building. The district is issuing $4 million in lease certificates, a common practice to build a building without a referendum that would delay the project for a year and a half. Certificates will be converted to building bonds early next year. Geneseo will go out for bids in February and begin construction next summer with a completion date of April or May of 2023.
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