The School District of Mystery Lake held their 2010-2011 public budget presentation at their school board meeting on Feb. 23, and the final proposed budget suggests an increase of 2.61 per cent.

While the school board tells the City of Thompson how much it needs to raise for the municipal share of its budget, it is up to the city to set the actual mill rate determining how that money will be raised.

Cheryl Davies, chairperson of the district’s board of trustees, says the final decision will be made as to whether the budget passes or not at the next school board meeting March 9.

Under the board’s 2010 property assessment, residential properties increased from 66.3 per cent of total assessment in 2009, at $214,343,100, to 71.6 per cent in 2010, at $334,319,310 – an increase of $120,048,210. The board says residential property owners will now pay a larger portion of the municipal and education taxes.

With re-assessment, most residential property taxpayers are likely to see an increase in the school board portion of their tax bill, but some will see a decrease.

The school board’s proposed budget for this year is $37.537 million compared to $36.539 million last year. About $7.291 will likely come from municipal ratepayers in the form of a special levy. The vast majority of the school board budget funding comes directly from the province.

Readers can go to the school district’s online website at: http://www.mysterynet.mb.ca/ and find “Presentation : 2010-2011 Budget Presentation” the third link down for the full 22-page PDF document.

The City of Thompson by comparison has a budget of around $25.497 million last year and the Burntwood Regional Health Authority (BRHA) has a budget of almost three times that of the school district.

The board says that any increase in expenditures not covered by grants from the provincial government must be covered by either an increase in property taxes or a reduction in expenditures.

Louise Hodder, district supervisor in the Thompson Assessment office in the province’s Department of Intergovernmental Affairs, who did the assessment for the school district, says a province wide reassessment of property values in Manitoba came into effect for 2010.  In the City of Thompson the overall assessment – residential and commercial – increase is approximately 56 per cent. 

“This means the school board and the municipality have 56 per cent more assessment when dividing the assessment base into their budget requirement amount,” she explains. “All things being equal, this mathematical formula would result in a lower mill rate.”

Funding the school district receives is based on enrolment rates based on Sept. 30 of the previous year. The enrolment rate for 2010/2011 is 2,802.5, while in 2009/2010 it was at 2,911.5. In total there has been a reduction of 426 students from the 2007/2008 year to the present. This reduction in students, the board says, has resulted in a decrease of $810,586 in base and categorical grants.

The tax incentive grant, which was introduced by the Government of Manitoba in the 2008/2009 budget year, is intended to assist school divisions in maintaining their 2010 property tax mill rate at the level set by the province. The school board says that the 2010 tax incentive grant has been established at $999,230, an increase of $356,201 from 2009.

The provincial government is providing $29,368,511 for the 2010/2011 budget, while the federal government is providing $44,159. The municipal government, through property taxes and other means, is providing $5,855,967. The total revenue of the school district in 2010/2011 is slated to be $37,537,095, as opposed to 2009/2010’s budget of $36,539,729.

Total expenses for this year, including regular instruction, student support services, adult learning centres, community education and services, divisional administration, instructional and other support services, transportation of pupils, operations and maintenance and fiscal, total $36,941,298, as opposed to last year’s $36,000,483. The current operating surplus is $595,797.

Over the past budget year, the school district’s formula guarantee, which guarantees 2009/2010 provincial funding plus two per cent, provided $546,089 in revenue. The equalization grant was increased by $771,877, and the tax incentive grant was increased from $643,029 to $999,230. There was also an increase in the special levy of $141,050 which is allowable if the tax incentive grant is accepted.

The school board is suggesting that the final proposed budget expenses be increased by $940,815 for the new budget year; an increase of 2.61 per cent. This will allow the maintenance budget to see an increase of $171,000 to offset the “anticipated cost of water meters” in the city of Thompson. The board wants to create a budget for a school board sponsored student achievement scholarship.

Currently, the board says the budget shows a shortfall of around $180,000. A surplus in keeping with recommendations would require $600,000 – which means that approximately $780,000 must be made through reduction in expenses to achieve the surplus, access to the tax incentive grant funding and to “minimize the impact of increased assessment.” The board says this expense reduction will come in the form of reduction in school district staff – although the board has stressed that this will not require any layoffs, with all reduction in staffing happening through attrition. The board says increases and decreases in staffing of schools will be determined by enrolment changes and no programs will be eliminated.