Letter to the Editor

To the Editor:

I would like to take this opportunity to provide information to the patrons of our District regarding the upcoming 2016-2017 "Tax Rate Hearing" (scheduled for Tuesday, August 16th @ 5:15 pm).

This year we experienced a decrease in the assessed valuation (property values) in the district. The 2016-2017 assessed valuation for the district is $94,891,306 which is a decrease of $428,534 or .45% below the 2015-2016 assessed valuation of $95,319,840. At our current tax rate, the decrease in assessed valuation would mean a loss in revenue of $15,000 in local tax revenue for the operating levy and $3,000 in local tax revenue for the debt service levy, for a total decrease of $18,000 for the 2016-2017 school year. If you will recall, the 2008 bond issue repayment schedule was calculated using a 3% increase in assessed valuation per year. However, since the 2009-2010 school year, the assessed valuation has only grown a total of 5.3% or .76% per year. When reviewing data prior to the 2013 bond issue, we recognized the district was not meeting the 3% increase per year, and used a 1% growth per year repayment schedule, but as you can see the growth for the district since 2013 is not even meeting the 1% increase per year.

The tax rate ceiling calculations from the State Auditor's office for the debt service levy came to $1.0009 per $100 of assessed valuation. The figure of $1.0009 would allow the district to fulfill its debt obligations for the year, as well as build a reserve with at least one year of debt service payments. However, the district has adequate balances in our debt service account and does not need to levy the full amount of the tax rate ceiling. With that being said, I am going to recommend to the Kennett #39 Board of Education that we set the debt service levy at $.70 CENTS per $100 of assessed valuation for the 2016-2017 school year. Setting the levy at $.70 will allow the district to fulfill our debt obligations and keep the levy the same as the 2015-2016 year. The tax rate ceiling for the operating levy came to $3.5145 per $100 of assessed valuation. The District currently has an operating levy of $3.50 per $100 of assessed valuation. The Kennett School District has historically rolled back the operating levy. With that being said, I am recommending that we once again roll back the operating levy to the current level of $3.50.

As a district, we continue to experience the issue of the Funding Formula being under funded by the Missouri Department of Secondary and Elementary Education (DESE) as a result of the economic status of the nation and state. To further impact this loss of state revenue is the fact that we are losing student enrollment across the district. In the last two years, the district enrollment has dropped approximately 130 students resulting in a loss of over $650,000 in state funding for the upcoming year. However, we as a district have worked very hard to spend our resources in the most effective manner to benefit the students, staff and patrons of the district. We have made reductions in areas across the district in an attempt to address the loss in local and state revenue in a manner that will have very little or no negative impact on the educational opportunities we offer our students. At this time, we have adequate fund balances to ensure the district is financially sound and will continue to be fiscally responsible for the patrons of the community.

In closing, as a district we continue to strive to provide a quality education for our students with the least amount of financial responsibility being placed on the patrons of the district.

If you have questions or comments regarding the tax rate hearing, please contact me at your convenience at 573-717-1100 or cwilson@kennett.k12.mo.us

Sincerely,

Chris Wilson, Superintendent

Kennett School District #39