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Albion’s proposed $41.8 million school budget doesn’t increase taxes

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 8 May 2023 at 12:53 pm

ALBION – The school district once again won’t be increasing the amount of money it collects it taxes. The district’s proposed $41,814,847 budget sets the tax levy at $8,449,039, the same as the current 2022-23 school budget. This is the 15th time in the past 17 years the school taxes have either stayed the same or gone down.

Wayne Wadhams, president of the Board of Education, said the budget provides well-rounded, student-centered educational programs while being responsive to the financial realities of the community.

“It has been our long-term goal to either decrease or keep the tax levy unchanged,” Wadhams said in the district’s budget newsletter. “We continue to strive to ensure a strong financial base that can withstand swings in state funding in order to ensure continuity and improvement in instruction and programs.”

The budget goes to a community vote on May 16. Districts residents 18 and older are eligible to vote if they have lived in the district for at least 30 days before the vote.

Voting will be from noon to 8 p.m. at the elementary school, conference room A near the community entrance at the back of the school.

There will be a public hearing on the budget Tuesday at 7 p.m. in the high school LGI.

The district’s budget increases spending by $3,516,157 or 9.2 percent. A 10.3 percent increase in state aid or by $3,045,607 to $32,473,384 will offset most of the increase. State aid covers about 78 percent of Albion’s total school budget.

The vote on May 16 also includes the following propositions:

  • Authorization to spend up to $550,000 from the school’s bus purchase reserve fund to purchase buses.
  • Authorized to collect $654,510 for Hoag Library.
  • Authorization to establish a transportation reserve fund to acquire school buses and similar vehicles in the future.
  • There is also one seat on the Board of Education up for election. Mary Brown isn’t seeking re-election to a five-year term. Porsche Taylor in the lone candidate on the ballot.