The Woodland School District will be looking for some love from the community Feb. 14, when residents vote on a new three-year tax levy.
The district’s board of directors was presented with the recommended property tax levy, which will run from 2018 to 2020, at a meeting Sept. 26. The board will discuss the recommended levy at its Oct. 24 meeting, and decide whether to put it up for a vote as recommended or make changes.
“It’s not significantly different,” Woodland Superintendent Michael Green said. “The current one’s a three-year levy, and we’re proposing another three-year levy. The estimated tax rate would remain fairly consistent. It’s in the neighborhood of what the levy has been for several years now.”
The levy this year is $2.62 per $1,000 of assessed value, which is down from 2015’s levy rate of $2.76.
In the recommended three-year levy presented to the board, the levy rate will be $2.70 in 2018 and 2019, and $2.69 in 2020. That would bring in an estimated $4.5 million to the district in 2018, $4.75 million in 2019 and $5 million in 2020, according to the presentation made at the board meeting.
During the three most recent school years, levy money has primarily gone toward salaries and benefits. It also is used for the special education program, extracurricular activities, food service programs, transportation, substitutes and supplies.
Green said he’s confident the community will support the levy, which will require a simple majority to pass.
“Our education is a priority for the community,” he said. “There’s a recognition that a quality education is important for the future of the community, the future of the kids and the future of business in our community.”
