Residents of the Monmouth-Roseville School District are again being asked to pay more in property taxes.
Voters rejected a proposal to increase the general education fund levy by $0.75 during the March primary election by a nearly 2-1 margin.
The rate would have increased from $2.25 to $3.00/$100 of assessed valuation.
The district is trying again by placing a tax referendum on the November ballot.
School Board President Lynn Shimmin said the district has been hurting since state aid dropped 11% about two years ago.
“We’ve been running a deficit budget,” Shimmin said. “We’ve been having to use surplus funds or funds from our working cash to meet deficit budget and we can’t continue in that pattern.”
He said increasing the general education fund would help the district pay for day to day operations.
Shimmin said the school board reviewed tax rates for nearby districts and found Monmouth-Roseville's is one of the lowest in the region.
The Monmouth-Roseville School Board has discussed various methods for getting the word out about the need for the increase, including social media, prior to the November election.
