Decreased Millage Rate For Hernando Schools

BROOKSVILLE - One thing's for sure: The state did not fulfill its promise to hold education harmless.

That's the word from district finance director Debbie Bruggink, who presented a bleak decreased millage rate and tax levy for the 2008-09 fiscal year at a school board workshop Tuesday afternoon.

The proposed millage rate is 7.68, with a taxable value of $11,635,770,780, as used by the 2008 Legislature in a recent final conference report. That is less than this current fiscal year's millage rate of 8.065. The 2008-09 tax revenues are expected to bring in an estimated $84.9 million at 95 percent collections, which would be about $3.3 million less than the current fiscal year, with revenues expected to hit about $88.2 million.

However, since local property values are still less than what the state estimated, the millage may rise to about 7.92. That is still less than this fiscal year, but would bring in a little extra revenue, Bruggink said.

While the presentation focused on the revenue stream and funding formulas - particularly on the fact that the state has been shifting more and more of the funding burden to individual districts - it did not address what the district is spending.

Officials also did not discuss potential cost-saving measures, such as eliminating teaching positions or moving to a four-day school week.

The budget is expected to be tight, with officials having to roll back numbers to slightly more than the amount spent during the 2006-07 school year due to a worsening economic climate across the state.

That information is expected to be presented and discussed at the next budget workshop on June 17, with final approval set for September.

This year, a property owner who owns a $200,000 house will pay about $1,343.48 in school taxes, a decrease of $67.90 from the previous year. However, that doesn't factor in whether the home increased or decreased in value as set by the county's property appraiser.