By Kevin Boneske
Staff Writer

ASHWAUBENON – The net amount school district property taxes are going up is being affected by an increase in the district’s tax levy and a decrease in the school tax levy credit from State of Wisconsin, said Ashwaubenon Business Director Keith Lucius.

Lucius said the district received questions from property taxpayers in Ashwaubenon about the tax bills they received being different from the tax levy approved by the school board at the end of October.

He said the district levy increased by $386,158 (2.37 percent) to $16,643,395, while the state’s levy credit decreased $181,775 (5.29 percent) to $3,252,879, resulting in the net levy increasing by $567,933 (4.42 percent) to $13,390,516.

Based on the assessed mill rate, Lucius said the district’s rate increased by about 27 cents to $8.50 per $1,000 with the levy credit decreasing by 9 cents to $1.48 per $1,000 and the net assessed mill rate for school purposes increasing by 36 cents to $7.02 per $1,000.

Lucius said the amount of Ashwaubenon’s school levy tax credit, obtained from the Village of Ashwaubenon because it isn’t communicated to the district by the state, isn’t available before the school board finalizes the annual budget in October.

He said the credit decreased for Ashwaubenon because of decreases in the district’s tax levy the previous two years.

Information Lucius obtained from the office of State Sen. Rob Cowles states the credit is based on the municipality’s three-year average of school levies, divided by the statewide three-year average of school levies and then multiplied by the statewide total of credit funding.

On April 7, Ashwaubenon voters approved an operational referendum to exceed the district’s revenue limit by $730,000 annually for five years, starting with the 2020-21 school year and ending in 2024-25, and a capital referendum for issuing up to $10.05 million in general obligation bonds to pay for a districtwide facility improvement program.

Prior to the levy increasing to fund the current school year budget, the district’s financial figures show levy decreases of more than $209,000 for 2019-20 and $1.355 million for 2018-19.

Lucius said the district’s levy and the net school levy for Ashwaubenon in each of the three most recent years is lower than in each of the three preceding years.