By BILL KNIGHT
For The Weekly Post
ELMWOOD – The Board of Education on Monday formally approved the 2020 tax levy (for the 2021-22 school year), increasing projected funds 1.69 percent.
At the same time, the board voted to reduce the overall tax rate, a decision made possible bu increasing Equalized Assessed Valuation (EAV) of homes in the school district.
The unanimous vote OK’d slight increases to all categories, from mandated categories Education, Operations & Maintenance, and Transportation to special education and tort immunity. The only declines were slight differences in retirement funds.
“The County Assessor has projected that our EAV will increase by approximately 1.9 percent,” said Superintendent Chad Wagner. “The Tort Fund will increase by $5,000 to cover increased risk-management strategies.
“All other funds with set rates will be requested to receive those percentages per the established levy limits,” he added.
The overall tax rate should be reduced by about 1.4 cents, to 5.5147. A home worth $100,000 – therefore with an EAV of $33,000 – will pay $1,819 to fund District 322.
The previous tax rate was 5.52906.
In action related to the levy, the board also abated taxes levied for the year 2020 to pay debt service on general obligation school bonds (alternate revenue source), series 2020, in accordance with requirements tied to the County School Facilities Sales Tax.
In other news:
• Due to the updated Tier 3 mitigation strategies enacted by the State of Illinois, all school-related practices and activities have been suspended until further notice. Wagner reviewed criteria on whether school will close entirely due to COVID-19 and noted that the main reasons are mandated from the state or the inability to adequately staff.
Asked if the Board wanted to respond to a possible recommendation by the Peoria County Public Health to close, Board members agreed that local control has been effective, so the administration should be responsible for any action determined by local information.
• In personnel, the Board unanimously approved Wagner’s contract through the 2023-24 school year; the employment of Lynn Bernal as cafeteria aide at a rate of $11/hour; Conner Sharp as Junior High boys track coach, Alex Coulter as Junior High girls track coach, and Tiffany Bell as Junior High Science Olympiad coach; and the Retirement Incentive Program for Christina Herridge, Cynthia Alcaraz, and Lori Caulkins per the Collective Bargaining Agreement, which provides 6 percent salary increases for their final three.
