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Underwood district levy increases
Published 7:03am Wednesday, December 23, 2009Underwood’s tax levy is set to increase by 3.4 percent in fiscal year 2009-10.
That puts the total levy at $819,000, up $27,000 from last year.
The levy was made official Monday during the district’s board meeting, when approval of the levy was granted.
The district, which does not have an operating levy, increased three major categories available for levy through the state.
The equity levy increased by $7,300 largely because the district does not have an operating levy, according to Superintendent Gary Sletten.
Costs associated with health and safety projects were also subject to hikes, Sletten said. Funding associated with health and safety levies rely solely on 100 percent levy funding. State aid does not contribute to a district’s portion of health and safety funds, which typically cover projects in need of approval through a fire marshall and other projects related to health and safety, including asbestos removal.
The operating capital levy for the district also accounted for a large part of the increase, according to Sletten.
All together, a district is able to legally levy for 30 different categories as defined by the state.
MARRS Audit
The Underwood School Board reviewed a MARRS audit completed by the state of Minnesota for the 2007-08 school year.
The majority of the audit revealed two red flags relating to the length of kindergarten class time and community education membership days.
“The red flags were that our length of day for kindergarten kids should be 190 minutes and membership days should be 171,” said superintendent Gary Sletten.
The report indicated the length of kindergarten classes was 300 minutes long.
The length was a problem considering kindergarten is only provided .62 funding through the state.
The district has since made changes to both the kindergarten schedule and community education memberships.
