photo by: Lawrence Journal-World

The Lawrence school board will meet on Monday, August 26, 2024 at the Lawrence district offices, 110 McDonald Dr.

Next week, the Lawrence school board will discuss its 2025 budget, and has proposed a nearly unchanged property tax rate, according to information on file with the Douglas County Clerk’s office.

The school board has notified the Douglas County Clerk that the school district’s property tax rate will be no more than 52.42 mills for the 2025 budget. That would be up from a rate of 52.21 mills that is currently funding the 2024 budget. If the maximum mill levy is adopted for the 2025 budget, the owner of a $300,000 home would see an increase of $7.25 in property taxes.

But it is not certain that maximum will be adopted. The school district late last month was required to submit a maximum mill levy amount to the county clerk’s office in order to comply with a state law related to public budget hearings. The school board has not yet had any public discussions about the budget

Executive Director of Finance Cynde Frick said in an email that she calculates the maximum mill levies that the school district might need and sends them to Douglas County by July 20. The levies reported to the county cannot be exceeded. Frick said she estimates high on those mill levies, but not so high as to alarm taxpayers receiving this information in notices from the county.

On Monday, August 26, Frick will propose the actual mill levies to the school board. She said via email that she expects those actual mill levies will be slightly lower from what was sent to the county. The school board will review the budget report for the proposed 2025 budget, and will plan to adopt it in early September.

“The board could reduce the maximum mill levies on Aug. 26, or reduce the mill levies on Sep. 9 at the time of budget approval,” Frick said in an email to the Journal-World.

But the board won’t be able to increase the mill levy beyond the 52.42 mill amount sent to the county. The nearly flat mill levy rate comes at a time when the city of Lawrence is proposing a 3.5 mill increase in its property tax rate, which would be its largest rate increase in 50 years. Douglas County, however, is proposing a 2.91 mill decrease to its tax rate, which is one of the largest declines in the county’s recent history. If the school district follows through with a virtually flat mill levy, the combined mill levy rate for a Lawrence property owner — a house in Lawrence pays taxes to the city, the county and the school district — would be up about 0.8 mill. On a $300,000 home that increase would amount to about $28 for the year.

School district officials largely declined to comment on the specifics of their mill levy proposal on Monday. The school district submitted four mill levy amounts to the county clerk’s office — one for its general operating fund, one for its debt service fund, one for its capital outlay fund, and one for its various other mill levies. The Journal-World added those mill levies together and compared the total to the current budget’s mill levy total, which is on file with Douglas County. The Journal-World asked district officials for further clarification of the proposed mill levy total and the current mill levy total, but received no additional details.

Frick said that any additional budget information will be available during the budget report at the Monday, Aug. 26, school board meeting. The board will meet at 6 p.m. at the district offices, 110 McDonald Drive. The meeting will also be available via the school district’s YouTube channel.