The Lawrence school board on Monday will consider a maximum mill levy for the 2025-26 budget that would increase property taxes.
The proposed mill levy for 2025-26 is 52.333, according to a presentation in the meeting agenda. That’s .081 mills more than the approved rate of 52.252 for 2024-25.
Although the rate increase is fairly small, most property owners in Lawrence and Douglas County saw their assessed valuations increase by 5% or 6% on average. To keep property taxes flat, the school board would have to lower the mill levy.
The owner of a home assessed at $200,000 would’ve paid the district about $1,156 in property taxes for 2024-25. That amount would increase to about $1,168 this year with the mill levy change alone. However, if that home’s assessed valuation has also increased 5%, they’d pay about $1,218 for school district property taxes in 2026, or about $62 more.
Once the maximum mill levy is set, the board can always approve a budget smaller than the approved maximum, but they cannot exceed the number board members vote to approve Monday.
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Local option budgets allow districts to supplement funding through local property taxes or per pupil state aid. The proposed LOB for 2025-26 operates at 33% of the general fund, or 14.831 mills, which is the maximum allowed by the state. According to the presentation in the board’s meeting agenda, LOB state aid decreased because the assessed valuation per pupil is higher this year.
The board on Monday will take a vote on whether to publish notices for hearings on exceeding the revenue neutral rate and the maximum spending authority with the state. An opportunity for the community to comment on the budget items is required.
If approved, public hearings would be set for the start of the board’s meeting on Monday, Sept. 8. The budget is due to the state by Sept. 20 — the day the district takes its annual enrollment count.
View the presentation attached to the meeting agenda item on BoardDocs.
The school board meeting will begin at 6 p.m. Monday, Aug. 11 at district offices, 110 McDonald Drive.
Meetings are open to the public, livestreamed on the district’s YouTube channel, youtube.com/@USD497, and broadcast on Midco channel 26. Full meeting agendas are available on BoardDocs, via go.boarddocs.com.
To give public comment, sign up by noon the day of the meeting by emailing PublicComment@usd497.org. Commenters may request to participate by Webex video/phone conferencing.
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Maya Hodison (she/her), equity reporter, can be reached at mhodison@lawrencekstimes.com. Read more of her work for the Times here. Check out her staff bio here.
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Nathan Kramer / Lawrence Times
