Baird Vice President Jordan Masnica provided an update on the current referendum tax impact during the Jan. 9 monthly meeting of the Wautoma Area School Board at Parkside School.
During his presentation in September, Masnica provided the Board with preliminary numbers, however, now that the 2022 calendar is over, he was able to provide the final tax impact numbers if voters approve the $41.3 million referendum for the construction of a new elementary school in April.
Due to inflation and the substantial rise in property value, the mill rate for the WASD has been set at $4.96, which equates to $496 for each $100,000 in home valuation. Mesnica stated the mill rate for the new building project with a cost of $41.3 million, assuming 20-year borrowing and a conservative interest rate of 4.75%, would have taxpayers see an increase of $1.97 per $1,000 property valuation or $197.00 on a $100,000 home.
With the increase in the mill rate from $4.96 to $6.93 to fund the new elementary school, WASD would continue to remain under the state average as well as under the 2019-2020 mill rate in which taxpayers were paying $7.03 per $1,000 of home valuation.
Following the presentation, the Board went on to unanimously approve the referendum initial resolution authorizing general obligation bonds in the amount not to exceed $41,300,000, and to provide for a referendum on the question of the approval of an initial resolution authorizing the issuance of general obligation bonds in the amount not to exceed $41,300,000. The WASD referendum question will appear on the April 4 Spring Election ballot.