By Brenda WinterHills-Beaver Creek School Board members certified the district tax levy at their Dec. 8 meeting.Last year the district levied $297,659 for taxes paid this year. On Monday, the board set the levy at the maximum allowed by the state which comes to $338,060. Board member Gary Esslink asked if the district had to collect the maximum amount levied. "I know in past years there have been times when we didn’t need the full amount we levied," Esslink said, Superintendent Dave Deragisch said, "The dollars you see here are the dollars we need to run our school. There isn’t any place to cut back." Beginning in 2002, the state of Minnesota began to assume a greater portion of the funding of education. Deragisch said the move was intended to lift some of the local property tax burden. At the same time, the state began placing more restrictions on how local school districts can set levies. Deragisch said he is concerned that the district will soon find itself facing an excess levy referendum, which is a referendum used to pay for basic operating expenses.Deragisch said, "About $180,000 of our $330,000 levy is being used to pay for our building projects. (The elementary school addition and the new locker rooms.) That doesn’t leave us with a lot of flexibility."In a document prepared for the Dec. 2 Truth in Taxation hearing Deragisch said, "It is getting very difficult to balance the school budget without impacting the public through an increase in the levy. If we are to continue to offer excellent programs, we will need to pay for these. With the freeze/reduction in state funds, the people from Hills, Beaver Creek and Steen will be asked to help shoulder the financial responsibilities."Deragisch said the district may have to consider a referendum in the next year or two because of the state’s attempt to reduce local taxes. "We would have gone full circle," he said.
