Keith Vandervort
ELY – ISD 696 School Board members approved the 2021 property tax levy Monday night that shows a 32-percent increase over last year’s levy. The 2021 levy of $2,373,475 is an increase of $576,411 over the 2020 levy of $1,797,064.
District voters approved a $10 million bond in August to help finance a $20 million school building renovation project. Construction is expected to start in the spring.
No taxpayers participated in Monday’s truth-in-taxation public hearing that preceded the board’s unanimous approval of the levy.
Superintendent Erik Erie noted that just 20 percent of the total district revenue for the $8.9 million budget for 2020-2021 comes from the property tax levy. About two-thirds of the district’s revenue, $5,947,131, comes from state sources, and about four percent, $358,390, comes from federal sources.