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The Ely School District is set to collect more in property taxes in 2025 than it did last year, but only because voters gave the go-ahead.
School board members approved a tax levy of approximately $2.55 million at Monday’s regular meeting, which included the district’s annual Truth in Taxation hearing.
But the hearing generated no public pushback, and the board approved the levy - which amounts to a 12.55 percent increase - on a 5-0 vote.
That double-digit jump, however, came as a result of a November referendum when district voters approved a $350,000 capital project levy.
Had that levy not won voter approval, district property taxes would have gone down next year.
Instead, the district will collect $2,553,449 in 2025, in comparison to the $2,268,84 levied in 2024.
During the taxation hearing, school finance manager Jordan Huntbatch guided board members through a presentation that included a run of the levy numbers for both 2024 and 2025.
An assortment of factors determine school taxes in Minnesota, including student enrollment and state equalization rates.
Ely’s current K-12 student population is slightly behind where it was a year ago.
Property tax levies set in the fall of 2024 are collected in 2025 and fund operations in the 2025-26 school year.
Ely’s 2025 levy is broken down into six areas, with some components encompassing all properties in the district and some excluding seasonal-recreational properties.
The $350,000 capital project levy approved in November, which school officials touted as a means to provide additional revenue for technology, transportation and curriculum expenses, covers all properties in the district.
One of the larger components of the 2025 levy is $659,392 for debt service.
That’s because of bond payments on the district’s $20 million-plus renovation project that included the construction of a new building that houses a gymnasium, cafeteria/commons, office space, media center, music and industrial education classrooms and a single secure entry to the buildings.
Debt service and the school building project were the primary reasons the levy climbed by 32 percent from 2020 to 2021, a hike that was the direct result of voter approval of a $10 million bond for the renovation and construction project.
School levies are predominantly formula-driven, with student enrollment and district property wealth among the key factors.
Ely School District property taxes have been largely stagnant the last several years, with the levy topping out at $1.9 million in 2016 but dipping to about $1.65 million the next two years before moving back up to $1,797,064 in 2020, and then climbing to as high as $2.37 million as a result of the referendum and building project.
The presentation this week also included data showing how the tax levy figures into the district’s overall budget.
The 202 4 levy of $2,268,863 amounted to less than one-fourth (23 percent) of district revenues.
Overall, local sources make up 25.4 percent ($2,481,404) of the district’s revenue, with federal sources providing another 3.75 percent ($366,554), and state sources comprising the largest-single block of revenue - at 67.68 percent of $6,588,945.
With overall spending of $9,898,578 budgeted for 2025, the bulk of that is devoted to wages and benefits, which reach $6,736,922 - a total of 68 percent.
Purchased services ($1,105,521), debt service ($920,000), supplies and materials ($581,123), capital expenditures ($431,389) and other ($123,621) spending round out the budget.
