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An excess operating levy to help pay for textbooks, buses and building repairs will also buy time for a school district on the brink of a financial crisis, school officials say.

The need for the levy and the results of a recently completed study of School District 2142 were the focus of Tuesday’s informational session at the Orr School. Similar meetings at the district’s other six school sites are scheduled to be held during October.

Superintendent Charles Rick said declining enrollment and rising costs have squeezed the district financially and threaten to send it into statutory operating debt. To avoid that scenario, the district is seeking public approval of an excess operating levy to supplement funding for school operations.

This will be the district’s third attempt to pass an excess levy after voters narrowly rejected a levy proposal in 2006 and opposed the same proposal by a wider margin in 2007.

Rick said this levy proposal differs significantly from the others. In the two previous referenda, the district was seeking a $500 per pupil increase that would increase its revenues by $1.34 million annually. The current proposal lowers that amount to $300 per student. Based on current enrollment, that will generate about $770,000 annually.

Moreover, the district shortened the time that the excess levy will be collected from ten to five years.

Rick said the combination will result in less cost to taxpayers. As an example, he noted that property taxes on a $100,000 home would have risen by $95 under the previous levy proposals and, over ten years, add $950 to the homeowner’s taxes. Under the current levy proposals, the increase in taxes on the same home would be reduced to $52 and, over ten years, add $520 to the homeowner’s taxes — a difference of $430.

In addition, Rick said that an excess levy already in place will end in three years, helping offset a portion of the increase created by the new levy. The relief will be minor, however, since the old levy only generates about $340,000 a year in revenue.

Three-quarters of the excess levy funds (about $577,500 annually) would be designated for classrooms, including the purchase of textbooks and technology improvements, maintaining smaller class sizes and educational programs. Of the remainder, 15 percent is targeted for transportation for maintenance of the existing fleet and new vehicle purchases, and ten percent would be divided between building maintenance and replenishing the budget reserves.

Rick acknowledged that the money generated by the levy won’t be enough to meet all of the needs of the district, which has projected a nearly $2 million deficit for the 2008-09 school year. But he said it will allow the district more time to restructure its operations before it falls into statutory operating debt.

“The district cannot maintain its present operations,” Rick said. “Within three years, we’ll be in statutory operating debt.”

Rick backed up his assertions with a financial analysis of the district included as part of a comprehensive assessment of the district completed recently by Johnson Controls and Architectural Resources.

At Tuesday’s presentation, Rick also reviewed portions of the study showing an abundance of excess space at school buildings, tracking enrollment trends and showing the impact that open enrollment has had on the district. Detailed information from the study is available on the district website at www.isd2142.k12.mn.us and copies are also available for review at each school site.

Rick said the next step is to use the data to develop a long-term plan that will sustain the district. Development of that plan will take shape over the next months with the goal of adopting a long-range plan by March 2009.

State Rep. David Dill, DFL-Crane Lake, encouraged people to support the levy and urged people to express their concerns and ideas to the school board now while a plan for the district is still being formulated.

“The board is going to have to make some extremely tough decisions,” he warned. “We’re talking about real pain. Voting for the levy will give us time to prepare but now is the time to give the district your input, not later.”

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