Bayless Puts 92 Cent Levy on April 3 Ballot

At a special workshop Saturday morning, the Bayless School Board voted to put a 92 cent tax levy on the April 3 ballot.

If approved by voters the measure, likely called "Proposition B," would increase the district's total operating levy to a property tax of $4.22 per $100 of assessed home value, bringing in an total of $1,288,000, to be realized for the 2012-2013 school year.

Teresa Lang, the Bayless's Chief Financial Officer, said passing the tax was critical to the district's financial future.

"We would like to bring back students, and be able to retain them. We would like to be able to maintain the current operations of the district and to bring back busses. And it is important to be able to make up for revenue cuts projected at the state level," Lang said.

Lang broke the 92 cents into several chunks planned for different uses. The largest chunk, 37 cents, is designed to make up for state aid lost due to a 150 student drop in enrollment two years ago.

The next largest chunk, 20 cents, would bring in $280,000 be used to restore the district's bus transportation service. Bayless eliminated student bussing in 2010 to save money.

Another 13 cents of the levy would allow the district to receive the full amount of state funds it is entitled to bring in through local taxes according to state adequacy targets and the underfilled funding formula.

The levy will also have 12 cents dedicated for maintaining staff and giving Bayless's teachers their promised cost of living raise.

The final 10 cents will be used to ease the district's cash-strapped operating budget.

Both the district administration and the Bayless teacher's union agree that the district desperately needs to the tax increase, which was first proposed by school board president Jeff Preisack last summer.

Residents will vote on the measure, along with school board candidates and a few other local offices, on April 3.