At the most recent Highland School Board meeting, Business Manager Sue Rich gave a report on the estimated budget for the 2017-2018 fiscal year, and had good news for members of the community regarding the tax levy. Rich says the property tax levy for the coming year will be approximately $14.19 per $1,000, down from $14.78. She says there are several factors that affect tax levy fluctuations, one being enrollment. Highland’s certified enrollment this year was 629.3 students, up 12.4 students from the previous year. Due to that increase, there will be more state funding for the school, so the tax levy dropped accordingly.

Some factors that contributed to the decrease are controlled by the school, which includes the cash reserve levy and management levy. Perhaps the biggest factor to this year’s tax levy decrease is the school currently has no general obligation bonds on their budget. Rich says they had a bond that was paid off during the 2015-2016 fiscal year, so the tax levy started to decrease after that. The current tax levy estimate could change slightly before the official numbers are released in April, but Rich says it should end up close to the figure she reported.