School District tax rate falls

The Cedar Grove-Belgium School District’s tax rate projection was close to what the actual rate turned out to be.

The School Board on Oct. 28 approved a tax levy of $7.488 million, up $400,000 from the annual meeting figure of $7.484 million.

Of that, the general fund, which handles day-to-day operational expenses, is $5.69 million, up from $5.66 million at the annual meeting.

“We knew that things were going to change,” business manager Tera Rogers said.

The state hadn’t finalized a few figures when the district held its annual meeting last month.

The corresponding tax rate is $6.14 per $1,000 of equalized value, up from $6.11 at the annual meeting and down from last year’s $6.26. The owner of a $350,000 house will pay $2,149 in school taxes this year.

“I was actually pretty happy with it,” Rogers said.

The revenue limit, the amount the state allows the district to raise, went up $50,000 from an estimated $5.64 million to $5.69 million. State aid went up from an estimated $5.41 million to $5.414 million.

Voucher payments, a state program that pays to send qualifying students to private schools, increased by nearly $55,000 to almost $780,000.

The district is also losing students via the state’s open enrollment program, which allows students living in one district to attend another. State aid money largely follows the student, and Cedar Grove-Belgium is losing nearly $200,000.

The budget has a $237,000 deficit, an improvement over last year’s $500,000 deficit, but Rogers said there are areas in which the district will under spend.

“I’m really hopeful that that $238,000 is going to be much lower,” Rogers said.

“We always want to err on the side of being conservative,” Supt. Elizabeth Freeman said of budgeting.