The Otsego Local Schools Board of Education will decide in July the income tax request it will ask voters to support this fall. At Wednesday’s meeting, the board learned that two resolutions of necessity for an income tax will be available at its next meeting.
Board member Mark Tolles proposed requesting a resolution of necessity to determine the collection rate for between $1.95 million and $2 million. The assumption is it will be 0.50%, Tolles said. Otsego has been considering asking voters to support a 0.50% or a 0.75% income tax in November.
The board previously requested a resolution of necessity for $2.97 million. According to the department of taxation, a 0.788% income tax will generate that amount, said Treasurer Steve Carroll.
That rounds down to 0.75%, he said, and is equivalent to 9.1 mills if the district went with a property tax.
The 0.50% tax should collect $1.95 million, Carroll said. That amount will be confirmed at the next meeting, when the board will decide on which rate it wants to pursue. The meeting is scheduled for July 31 at 6 p.m. The filing date is Aug. 9.
Without the extra income, the district will continue to spend more than it takes in for each of the next five years and is expected to reduce its unreserved cash balance to $2.51 million at the end of fiscal year 2027.
The district needs $2.97 million to stay operating in the black. The last time the district asked voters for new operating money was in 2002 with a 1% income tax.
Three times in the last 10 years the district put a levy on the ballot, only to pull it off when additional funds became available. One time was after a re-evaluation of property tax, then Nexus came to town, and finally the COVID grants, Carroll said.
The district’s request would be a continuing income tax. In other business, the board set the 2023-24 meal prices. At the elementary, student breakfast will be $1.50, and lunch will be $3.
At the high school, student breakfast will be $2, and lunch will be $3.25. Adult breakfast will be $2.50, and lunch will be $4.25. Milk will be 50 cents, an a la carte entrée at the elementary school will be $2.50 and an a la carte entrée at the high school will be $3.