Voting to take place in Room #1 of Mountain Lake Public High School
This Tuesday, November 3, will be General Election day at Mountain Lake Public School (MLPS) on a replacement operating levy, along with the election of four school board members. Voting will take place from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m., in Room #1 of the high school.
An operating levy asks voters in the school district to approve funding needed to run a school. It supports elective classes, activities, paying utilities costs, purchasing learning materials and hiring teachers.
The proposal is to discontinue the current voter-approved operating levy of 1,347.45 per pupil and replace it with the EXACT SAME PLAN for the next 10 years. NO OTHER CHANGES have been made to the current or the proposed levy.
This proposed levy keeps the current tax rate in place with NO CHANGES. Any tax increase would come from anticipated cost increases due to inflation, not the levy. An inflation adjustment has been included, just as was done in the last operating levy vote in 2007. This ensures that the operating levy dollars don’t lose value over time.
Operating levy taxes are not levied on agricultural land, buildings or seasonal recreational residential property (cabins, for example). Farmers will be taxed on their house, garage and one acre of land..
If this operating levy is approved, it will increase the school district’s revenue by $718,460. Of that amount, 53% – or $383,407 – will come from local property taxes (the operating levy). The remaining 47% – $335,407 – will come to the district through state aid. This state contribution only happens if the operating levy is approved.
The school board member election is for four members, each serving four-year terms. On the ballot are Julie Brugman, Pam Hoek, Chad Pedersen and Tom Fast (who was appointed to complete the term of Julie Peters) – all incumbents.