by Tracy McCue, Sumner Newscow — The Wellington school board unanimously passed the 2015-16 budget calling for a 4.9 mill levy increase from the previous year.

The USD 353 approved a 59.98 mill levy budget for the 2015-16 school year.

A mill levy is the “tax rate” that is applied to the assessed value of a property. One mill is one dollar per $1,000 dollars of assessed value. The estimated tax on a $100,000 residential home in the USD 353 school district in December for property owners will be $689.77 per year. In 2014-16, the mill levy was 55.053. On a $100,000 residential home it was $633 a year.

Thus, a tax payer will expect a $56.33 increase for the year or a $4.69 monthly increase.

The school board’s mill levy increase comes on the heals of the city of Wellington’s 3 mill increase passed by the council on Tuesday.

“It’s obvious what is happening,” said Carol Hadorn, Wellington school board member. “When you cut income taxes and you lose revenue from those income taxes, you have to find revenue elsewhere.

And the tax burden shifts to the property owners.”

Brad Morris, Wellington’s new assistant superintendent, just two months into his job at USD 353, provided the massive multi-page budget to the Wellington school board on Wednesday during a special 40 minute meeting. The budget falls under a new set of rules from the block grant funding implemented by the Kansas State Legislature at the last session. Even though the block grant has been voided by a three-judge panel, the Kansas Supreme Court has issued a “stay” on the decision meaning it has taken no action on the case and the block grant still goes into effect.

Morris said the block grant provides for more flexibility in the budget in shifting monies from one fund to the other, but he tried to keep figures in line with previous USD 353 budgets.

The overall assessed valuation for the school district went up from $67.1 million compared to $66 million in 2014 which gives the school district even more flexibility.

Although, the tax mill levy did increase for 2015-16, it is still below the 63.74 mill levy that was enacted during the 2013-14 school year.

Of the mill levy breakdown, 20 mills, mandated by the state, will go toward the general fund which includes employee salaries. The local option budget for USD 353 is 16.331, an increase of 12.035 from 2014-15. Capital Outlay, which deals with building/ground expenditures, jumped from 4.997 to 8.0 in 2014-15.

The budget overview can be found here:USD 353 budget for 2015-16

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