Medina’s school tax rate plummets to lowest level in at least 25 years

Reassessments in Shelby, Ridgeway dramatically increased tax base

MEDINA – The tax rates for the school district are going down – dramatically – after townwide reassessments in Shelby and Ridgeway increased the school district’s tax base by about 50 percent.

The Board of Education on Aug. 7 approved the tax warrant, which also sets the tax rates for the school district (and also the Lee-Whedon Memorial Library). The Medina district primarily includes property owners in Ridgeway and Shelby, but also includes small portions of Barre, Hartland, Albion and Alabama.

The rates for Ridgeway, Shelby and Alabama, which are at full valuation, are $14.03 per $1,000 of assessed property – down from just over $20.

The $14.03 rate is lowest for the district in at least 25 years. That’s as far back as Dr. Mark Kruzynski, the district superintendent, could go in the district database.

Overall the school district’s tax base is up by 49.3 percent or $206,391,967. It went from $418,392,371 in 2022-23 to the current $624,784,338.

Not all towns did re-valuations in Orleans County this past year with some wanting to wait to see if a hot real estate market settles down. The towns typically do re-valuations every three years. Ridgeway and Shelby were scheduled to do them in 2022 but held off until this year, when they completed the town-wide reassessments and the values are up by a lot.

The portion of Ridgeway in the Medina school district increased in assessed value by 54.6 percent or by $110,201,809 – from $201,811,373 to $312,013,182. Ridgeway’s school tax rate is dropping by $7.64 from $21.67 per $1,000 of assessed property to $14.03.

Shelby’s assessed value in the district jumped by 46.8 percent or by $96,019,297 – from $205,098,646 to $301,117,943. Shelby’s school tax rate is down by $6.56 from $21.67 to $14.03.

(The Alabama portion changed from $116,220 to $149,916; Albion from $900,084 to $1,007,436; Barre from $6,309,876 to $6,360,923; and Hartland from $4,156,172 to $4,134,938.)

Albion hasn’t done a reassessment in four years and its tax rate, adjusted through equalization by the state, is at $18.96 for those in the Medina school district. Barre did a reassessment in 2022 and is only a year from its last re-val. It’s rate is at $15.59.

The district’s tax levy, what it collects in property taxes, is $8,814,697, the same as the previous year. Medina hasn’t increased the tax levy in 14 of the past 16 years.

The district’s budget for 2023-24 totals $40,095,815, which represents a 0.53 percent spending increase from the $39,884,316 in 2022-23.