Voters Tuesday overwhelmingly passed a Headlee Override millage proposal — with 4,060 yes and 1,926 no votes to bring the district’s operating millage back up to 18 mills on non-homestead properties.
The approval, which will allow the recapture of a projected loss in revenue of $250,000 next year and increased amounts after that, also adds a 1-mill buffer in the event of future reductions to the operating millage through 2026.
Superintendent Craig Hoeskstra thanked the community for getting out to the polls and supporting restoration of the rollback, allowing the full rate of funding.
“This allows us to best support the quality experience our students absolutely deserve,” he said.
The district’s revenue was reduced by the Headlee Amendment, a 1978 law that automatically rolls back the millage rate to equal the rate of inflation in order to keep property taxes from increasing more than that. It decreases the amount of mills a district can levy, or collect, when property values increase faster than the rate of inflation.
Because of that, this year Wyoming only levied 17.5508 mills, even though 18 mills is the norm and state-authorized maximum millage that can be levied on non-homestead properties. This equates to a loss of approximately $180,000 this year, or $42 per pupil, said Matt Lewis, assistant superintendent for Finance and Administrative Services.
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