Voters in the Dora R-III School District will decide in the April 3rd election whether to renew the current tax levy with a .10 increase.
Dora superintendent Steve Richards told the Ozark Counry Times approving the levy increase carries extra importance because it brings the districts levy back to the 3.43 level qualifying it for the states Small Schools Grant. The Small Schools Grant provides an additional $120,000 to the Dora schools budget each year.
For all but one of the years since Dora voters passed a school operating levy ceiling of 3.43 in 2006, the schools levy has continued at or near that level, qualifying it for the $120,000 Small Schools Grant annually.
However, the countys total assessed valuation increased from about $109 million in 2016 to about $115 million in 2017, due to requirements from the state applied to the assessors office. Ozark County Assessor Jama Berry says the revised requirements were aimed at making all assessments consistent.
As a result of the increase in the countys total assessed valuation, Doras share of the total valuation also increased from around $15 million to $17 million. That increase in valuation meant the schools tax rate went down to 3.329 which means it will no longer qualify for the Small Schools Grant unless voters approve the .10 increase on the April 3rd ballot.
Richard says if the previous levy had sunsetted at a time when the schools operating levy had been 3.43, which it has averaged all the years since 2006, the ballot request would simply be to continue the current levy. But because it went down last year due to the districts increase in valuation, the request must, instead, be for an increase to the $3.43 per $100 assessed valuation level.
A brochure being distributed by the district indicates Doras .10 levy increase would cost the owners of $100,000 homes on less than five acres $19 more on their annual real estate taxes.
Owners of agricultural land with a $100,000 market value would pay $12 more, and the real estate tax on commercial property with a $100,000 market value would be $32 more per year.
The brochure notes even with the increase to $3.43 per $100 assessed valuation, Doras levy would still be lower than the school tax levys in 80 percent of Missouris 520 school districts.
Noting some of the Dora School Districts accomplishments over the past five years, the brochure lists the recent completion of the FEMA community shelter adjoining the school, a $1.14 million project that cost the district $400,000, and a $510,000 middle-school addition that cost $120,000 in local money. The rest of the projects funding came from grants and other sources. The school also now has computers for every child is grades 3-8, its athletic facilities have been renovated, a new agriculture barn was built on campus, new security measures have been implemented and updated playground equipment has been installed.
A simple majority is required to pass the levy question.
Richards invites area residents who have questions about the levy-increase request to call him at the school at 417-261- 2346.
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