Increases in property values means lower tax rates, higher levies for Highland District 5

This year’s tax levy for the Highland District 5 schools will anticipate about 9% in growth from last year, which may lower the tax rate for residents.

The levy is set at an 11% increase to allow some cushion in case the growth varies, but finance director Mari Nikola anticipates the increase at 8.5% to 9.5%. Last year, she said, county officials estimated increases of 1.98% and Highland ended up at 8.61%. Two years ago they estimated 2.48% and they finished at 4.5%.

The total levy is set at $19.9 million, including $12.7 million for the education fund and $2.7 million for operations and maintenance. The rest of the funds are divided between transportation, working cash, retirement and Social Security, special education, fire prevention and other smaller funds.

That creates an estimated tax rate at $4.42 per $100,000 of estimated assessed value if Highland sees the full 11% increase. That’s almost a full 10 cents lower than last year’s rate of $4.51 per $100,000, and a significant drop from 2015’s $4.89 rate. The tax rate has dropped every year since then, driven largely by increased property values each year since 2013.

“The EAV increase is positive financial growth for the district,” said Highland Superintendent Mike Sutton. “With the inflationary pressures on school districts and salary expectations growing, this growth in revenue will assist Highland CUSD No. 5 in meeting the increased costs of providing a quality education program for all students.”

As the levy is increasing more than 5% over the previous year, Highland was required to post notices in local newspapers and hold a public hearing in December.