Trending
A drop in assessed property values across Marshall County means Marshall County Schools will be seeing around $880,000 less from the excess levy, but school board president John Miller says that won't pose a problem for faculty and students.
At Tuesday evening's meeting, the board voted to keep the levy rate at 86% for the third year. Miller alluded to a reduction in property values county-wide -- from $4,823,006,563 to $4,776,941,893, a drop of approximately $46 million -- which corresponded to a decrease in taxes collected for the schools of $880,860, $370,000 of which was through the excess levy.
On Wednesday, Miller explained that the district has money carried over from previous years which will hold the district over for the coming fiscal year, and that he expects property values to continue the upward trend displayed for 11 of the previous 13 years, shoring up finances going forward.
"We were fortunate in having some carryover monies to help us through this time, this being only the second year of the last 13 where we've had a reduction in the tax base," Miller said. "I think we can carry through here; we'll have to reevaluate come another year. ... It's recommended by the state that you have a minimum contingency fund, a rainy day fund, for emergencies."
Additionally, Miller said, several industrial developments in Marshall County took root under the state's "Five for Ten" plan, a special tax valuation where certain natural gas fracking plants are valued at 5% of their actual value for tax purposes over their first 10 years. Miller said several in Marshall County will pass their 10-year mark in the coming years, bolstering the county's tax base.
"These are kind of waiting in the wings in the foreseeable future," he said.
Miller further clarified that the district won't see any hardship or reduction in programs for staff or students. In the near future, he said, design work continues on the county's new natatorium, which is eyed for development on the north end of John Marshall High School's campus.
"There'll be no decrease in services offered or facility construction," Miller said. "We're going with the natatorium, it's still in the planning stages. We're doing a lot of serious planning before we start with any bricks and mortar ...
"We're trying to do some partnering in the future with WVU Medicine Reynolds (Memorial Hospital), but that's still on the drawing board. ... We're a community body, they're a community body, so if we can partner and have something that would benefit both healthcare and education, I think it's a win for our community."
The excess levy is capped at 90% as the result of a board vote in years past, and has been steadily reduced in the years since 2010. At that time, the levy rate was 98% and produced just over $12.1 million. Since then, property values have nearly tripled, while the levy rate decreased steadily, first down to 94% in 2015, 90% in 2016, and 88% in 2017, before coming to its current rate in fiscal year 2021.
"We try to be caring and sensitive to our taxpaying public who support us in excess levies, as well as the regular tax base we pay on, and we want them to continue to support us," Miller said. "In the times that aren't so good, we try to remember them through those times as well."