Wayzata School Board Approves 2012 Tax Levy

Only one person spoke at the Dec. 12 truth-in-taxation presentation during the Wayzata School Board meeting, and there were no public comments given before the board approved the 2012 tax levy and budget at a special meeting Dec. 21.

Rolf Erickson of Plymouth said he was not at the board's regular meeting to talk about this year’s budget, but present a three-step plan that he believes could save 2 to 5 percent of future budgets. Erickson said he has presented his plan to the city of Plymouth, the Hennepin County Board and the Metropolitan Council.

He suggested that all district employees see what part of their jobs are mandated without proper support like funding needed that could be minimized or cut out completely. Then the district should see where those mandates are federal, state, regional or local.

"I do contract work for municipalities and as an assessor we could cut 10 percent of money by taking care of laws that accomplish nothing," Erickson said. "That’s where I’m coming from."

He said the district could lobby those entities to help get rid of these time-consuming, unnecessary mandates. He hoped the district would consider his suggestions and he'd like to see how things are a year from now.

Board Chair Pat Gleason said the district works hard talking to legislators about mandates for school districts.

"Getting rid of unfunded mandates is our push and we've made baby steps," she said.

Jim Westrum, district executive director of finance and business, said the 2012 property tax levy is a 3.5 increase and the biggest changes for it had to do with the number of students in the district itself, which is seeing increased enrollment in some grades.

"The district property tax rate is dividing property tax levy by the total tax base," Westrum said. "Expect only a slight change in school taxes. Residential homestead property values are expected to decline for most existing homes that have the district wide average value and that has declined 6 percent."

The district reports that taxes will likely remain similar or increase slightly from last year on most properties including apartments and businesses. Because of legislative changes on how local property taxes get distributed it is difficult for the district to figure out how its property tax levy affects an individual property owner's taxes. The school district is only one part of a larger pie in which taxes are pooled and used for services and more. The city and county you live in are part of that pie.

According to the district, the most notable changes for 2012 taxes payable include the state's changes to the Homestead Market Value Credit, which the state paid to reduce qualifying homeowners' taxes. Replacing this with the Homestead Market Value Exclusion reduces the taxable value of a qualifying home.

During a board work session Dec. 19, the district Legislative Action Committee presented its proposed 2012 legislative platform, which was discussed.

The legislative platform is a guiding document that gives the district a way to reach out to legislators and let them know what the board and its constituents desire for the public education system in Minnesota and the Wayzata School District.

Board member Susan Gaither disagreed with a long-term priority listed on the platform, which talks about investing more in early childhood education and allowing districts the flexibility to direct other funding toward such programs.

"It says 'invest more' and the word 'invest' is such a buzzword," Gaither said. "The state has a deficit and so does the country so it's magical thinking to say let’s come up with other dollars to invest more. To me, it looks like we're asking for more money."

Committee members said that was not the case or the intent with the priority.

But Gaither said she still doesn't agree that if there was more money given some of it should be moved to preschool programs.

Committee co-chair Cheryl Polzin, who will become a new School Board member in 2012, said that investing in early childhood typically means a more successful student down the road.

"We're simply asking the state to recognize giving a kid a leg up to become more successful by supporting early childhood programs where appropriate," Polzin said. "This is not code to raise taxes. We look at everything and the ability to provide this."

She said that there has been much research done and that will continue to be done, which points to early childhood education being the area "where we will get a big bang for our buck."

"Do we really want local operating levies going back up," Gaither asked. "And as far as early childhood goes, there's a lot research out there. It doesn’t pay and it all comes back to K-12 more than anything. There’s this conversation publicly about preschool. I'm just saying, given our demographics, is that really the best use of our funds?"

Gleason said the early childhood priority was listed because it is something that many believe is important to students in the community.

"We're responsible for kids from birth to age 21, not just K-12," she said.

Gaither questioned that.

"Since when did the government become responsible for kids from birth to age 21," she asked.

Gleason said that most often in special education schools are helping parents with their children way before they are enrolled. Gaither said special education isn't part of the majority of the student population.

The board did not approve the platform at this time, but it will come back to them at another meeting in January for approval.