School Board Approves Final Tax Levy for 2013-14 School Year

Edina Public Schools made good on its promise from earlier in the year, with the Board of Education unanimously approving a tax levy for next school year that represents a 1.93 percent decrease from current collections.

The levy is going down by more than $767,000, dropping from approximately $39.8 million to closer to $39.03 million.

The decrease, according to Director of Business Services Margo Bauck, is largely the result of the district passing along savings from bond refinancing.

"We wanted taxpayers to feel the benefits of refinancing bonds," Bauck said. 

The School Board approved the final tax levy for the 2013-14 school year during its Monday, Dec. 10 meeting, alongside the final budget for the current school year.

While Edina's tax levy decreased by 1.93 percent, Bauck said the other districts in Minnesota saw an average tax levy increase of 2.4 percent.

The approved levy includes a number of changes from last year:

• First year of the ten-year alternative facilities plan
• Bond refinancing (approved last year)
• Bond payoff/retirement
• Enrollment growth
• Prior year adjustments for enrollment growth, abatements and cooperative leases

For context, last year saw a tax levy increase of 14.71 percent for the district. That surge was largely due to the pair of successful referendums on November ballots.

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