DPS funding up, mills down

Talk about it

Dickinson Public Schools will receive more funding through tax dollars even though it will levy fewer mills because of property value increases in the area.

“If your property has the same valuation as set by the assessors — city or county — as last year, Dickinson Public Schools is actually lowering your property tax by .83 mills,” Assistant Superintendent Vince Reep said.

Two meetings, a public hearing regarding the property tax levy and a regular school board meeting were held at the board room at the DPS Central office on Monday.

The board is proud to be able to use fewer mills, Dickinson Public School Board President Kris Fehr said.

“I guess I anticipate the value of everyone’s houses is going up,” she said.

The school will use 121.88 mills in the 2012-13 school year, according to meeting documents. A mill is roughly $72,000.

Once the budget is set it cannot be changed, Reep said.

Taxable valuations went up in the Dickinson Public School District by 17.95 percent, 18 percent in Stark County and 15.58 percent in Dunn County.

“We are not increasing your taxes, your taxes are going down,” Reep said. “The property value of the district is increasing, and that’s something we don’t have control over.”

This comes with the building of a school, Prairie Rose Elementary, which is scheduled to open in a year in north Dickinson.

An update on the construction of Prairie Rose was given at the regular portion of the meeting.

“It’s a need as Dickinson grows,” Reep said. “We’re quite confident that it will be a building that we will use. We won’t mothball it, we’ll fill it. And we’re also thinking that we might have to expand it.”

Construction of the school will be financed with interim funds, money the district has been squirrelling away throughout the years, Reep said.

The school will cost $5 million to build and another $1.3 million for supplies, he said.

“So really, Prairie Rose will take up 18 percent of our budget for 12-13,” Reep said.

There was a delay with panels for the building, but crews were able to work on other parts of construction and, as of Monday, are on schedule.

“Comstock (the contractor) assures me and so does the architect that they will easily make up the time that the production of those was delayed,” Reep said. “Everything at Prairie Rose is going as planned.”

Student assignation will begin this fall, and staff will follow, Reep said, adding that staffing should be complete in January.

Photos of construction progress may be available online for public viewing, as requested by Fehr.

In other news:

r School starts Aug. 22 for students and Monday for teachers.

r Roosevelt’s cafeteria has new flooring, Reep said. When crews went in to replace the carpet, they found that the cement was deteriorated and redid the whole floor, covering it with tile.

The board approved the consolidated grant application for federal funding. DPS applied for Title I and Title II Part A funding, Superintendent Doug Sullivan said.

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