CCR-1 School Tax Rate Stays Unchanged

By Mike Scott

 

There will be no tax increase for the Clark County R-1 School District this year.  At a tax hear prior to the start of last Thursday’s school board meeting, the CCR-1 School board approved a total tax rate of $3.50 per $100 assessed valuation, continuing as one of the lowest rates in northeast Missouri.

 

The unadjusted levy for operations is $3.0135, but a voter approved rollback takes it down to $2.75 per $100. The district adds 75 cents per hundred for capital improvement projects and debt service to total the $3.50 per $100 valuation levy.

 

The board also approved the Annual Secretary of the Board Report (ASBR) which is submitted to the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education every year.  The report provides a financial snapshot of the district.

 

In his review of the report for board members, Superintendent Dr. Ritchie Kracht reported that 75.1 percent of all expenditures are for employee salaries and a benefits.

Kracht also showed board members a video from the Missouri School Board Association discussing the proposed Student Success Act, which will replace No Child Left Behind, and Missouri House Bill 253, passed by the legislature and vetoed by Governor Jay Nixon.  Opponents of the bill include schools, which claim the tax cut will starve schools, while supporters say it will bring new business into the state.

 

“We will loss $500,000 this year, and $291,000 every year forward if they override the governor’s veto, Kracht said.  “I have never seen anything like this.  The push to defeat this is so strong.”

 

The board adopted a resolution opposing the veto override .

 

In other business, the board authorized Board President Bill Schutte to sign paperwork transferring the former Mt. Tabor school property to the Colvin family. The Wyaconda district acquired it when Mt. Tabor closed, and sold it to the Colvins, but the deed was not correctly filed.