Members of the Lawrence school board meet to approve the publication of the proposed budget on Monday, July 27, 2015.

After several years of tax decreases, the Lawrence school board has proposed a budget for the upcoming school year that includes an increase in the school district’s property tax rate.

The mill levy increase would help replace the level of state aid lost after recent changes to Kansas’ funding formula, Kathy Johnson, director of finance for the district, told members of the school board at their Monday night meeting.

“It’s pushed back on the taxpayer to make up for it,” Johnson said, noting that the increase would allow the district “to keep the status quo” in terms of budgeting.

The district’s last tax increase was for the 2010-2011 school year, after which its tax rate decreased four years in a row. Under the district’s latest proposal, the rate would increase by 1.602 mills, from 55.752 mills to 57.354 mills.

For the owner of a home valued at $160,000, that would mean $1,055 in property tax per year, $29 more per year than under the current tax rate. Taxes are assessed on 11.5 percent of a home’s assessed property value, and one mill is equivalent to $1 for every $1,000 of that value.

Earlier this year, the Kansas Legislature overhauled the way the state funds its public schools, switching from the per-pupil funding formula in place since 1992 and replacing it for two years with a block grant system. A lawsuit alleging the law is unconstitutional is pending.

The proposed increase is part of a published budget report that outlines the Lawrence district’s funding, expected expenditures and the estimated property tax mill levy needed for the upcoming school year. Once the budget is published, district officials may adjust the budget downward but not upward.

The publication includes a side-by-side comparison with last year’s budget, but Johnson said the comparison — which indicates an approximately $20 million increase in total expenditures — is skewed by the inclusion of money that wasn’t previously moved through the general operating fund, such as state aid to the Kansas Retirement System for Public Employees, the state’s pension plan. That money is just transferred through and is not available for operating expenses, Johnson explained.

“We don’t really have any new money to speak of,” she said.

Owing to those additions, school board members approved the publication of the proposed budget while some voiced trepidation. School board member Shannon Kimball said that because the comparison is not “apples to apples,” the publication of the proposed budget doesn’t create the transparency that is intended.

“It’s no wonder that there’s so much ammunition out there for people that are misusing this information,” Kimball said.

A public hearing on the budget is scheduled for 7 p.m. Aug. 10 at the district’s Educational Support and Distribution Center, 110 McDonald Drive. After the hearing, the board will vote on whether to approve the plan.