River Valley Community,

 

The information below is intended to provide details from the December 22, 2022, Special Meeting by the River Valley Board of Education.  In light of the Emergency Renewal Levy failing in November, we have reviewed a number of options for the Board that would provide stable, long-term funding while preserving the community’s assets of our buildings and grounds, yet still provide a high-quality education to our students.  

 

The Board voted to place the following items on the ballot for the Special Election on May 2, 2023.  It is important to note, the issues proposed below represent no increase above what is currently being paid by taxpayers. 

 

I.)  Issue 1:  Bond and Permanent Improvement (PI) Levy - Combined 

     See chart below to show the levy items that would be expiring (on the left) with the proposed Bond and PI (on

     the right).  The new Bond & PI would be a projected reduction of .02 mills in tax year 2023 compared to the

     projected rate taxpayers will be paying for tax year 2022.

 

II.)  Issue 2:  Income Tax - Renewal with an increase of term from 5 years to 20 Years 

• Current Income Tax Levy
  • Passed by voters in May 2019
  • Effective for 5 years from January 1, 2020, and set to expire after December 31, 2024.

 

• Proposed Income Tax Levy Renewal
  • Will be on the May 2, 2023, ballot as a separate issue from the Bond + PI
  • If passed, will be effective January 1, 2025 (after the current 5-year Income Tax term ends) and would expire after December 31, 2044 (20-year term).

 

The Income Tax currently generates approximately 12% of the district’s operating budget, or $2.48M annually. It would take approximately an 8-mill property levy to generate the same amount of revenue.

The reason this 20-year term was selected is so the district can do long-term planning through addressing building needs (with Bond Funds), ongoing maintenance (with PI Funds), and providing consistent revenue for the district’s General Fund (with the Income Tax).  

The combination of having both the Bond & PI Levy and the Income Tax Levy are a critical part of the district’s plan to address immediate, long-term, and preventative maintenance needs, as well as have consistent funding for the daily operations of the district.

More information will be shared in the coming months on these levy issues, but we wanted to take this opportunity to provide a brief overview to the community.  We also encourage you to connect with the RV for Kids Levy committee to get additional information about upcoming levy plans.