Trustees Set 2010/11 Tax Rate
During their meeting this past Monday night, Huntington School Board members voted to set the 2010/11 tax rate at $200.83 per $100 assessed valuation. The 3.54 percent increase over last year is identical to the tax increase that was projected last May when residents went to the polls to decide the fate of the proposed school budget.
Keeping the increase in taxes identical to last spring's estimated amount, despite sharply lower assessed property values, required trustees to appropriate an additional $485,000 from the district's fund balance. In all, the district is using $1.915 million in fund balance monies to hold the line on taxes.
The 2010/11 budget totals $108,786,539, an increase of 3.6 percent over last year's amount. In addition to the appropriation from the fund balance, projected revenues include $91,980,387 in property taxes, $12,125,052 in state aid and $2,766,100 in miscellaneous revenues.
Following the action by trustees, Assistant Superintendent David H. Grackin said the district has an un-appropriated fund balance of $4,351,461; capital reserve fund containing $4,056,230; worker's compensation reserve of $3,385,735 and unemployment reserve of $66,776.83.
Had trustees not appropriated the additional monies from the fund balance, the tax rate would have needed to be hiked 4.08 percent to make up for the loss of revenue caused by a drop of more than $328,000 in assessed value, from $46,128,234 last to year to the current $45,800,187.