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Paducah Schools Tighten Belt, Avoid Tax Hike

Paducah Schools Tighten Belt, Avoid Tax Hike
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By West Kentucky Star Staff
Sep. 16, 2014 | PADUCAH, KY
By West Kentucky Star Staff Sep. 16, 2014 | 12:19 PM | PADUCAH, KY
The Paducah Board of Education voted Monday night at its meeting to take the compensating real estate and tangible property tax rate for 2015.

With a state-mandated 1% pay raise for faculty and staff this year and 2% for next year, the district is looking at an increase of more than $382,374 in payroll for staff just this year. “We are voting in favor of the compensating rate because we owe it to our community to ensure that we are being great stewards of our taxpayers’ monies,” said board chair Dr. Carl LeBuhn.

“As a district, we have worked hard to become even more efficient without sacrificing the high quality of education offerings and extracurricular offerings our students deserve. In our working session in August we examined each expenditure and revenue in our operating budget. We are confident that we can make it through this year’s state mandated 1 percent raise without having to generate additional monies from our local tax base. However, we can already tell from our early forecasts that the state mandated 2 percent raise in the 2015-16 school year will not be financed through state SEEK allocations.”

School boards determine the upcoming year’s tax rates annually, usually by considering two options: they  can take the compensating rate handed down by the Kentucky Department of Education, or take an allowed 4 percent tax increase. The compensating rate adjusts to ensure that the district will receive the same revenue as the previous year. The compensating rate is set at a rate of 77.1 cents for every $100 of property. This is a 0.4 cent increase from 76.7 cents in fiscal year 2014. This will cost a family that lives in a $100,000 house $4.00 more a year, or $0.33 a month.

The projected revenue from the increase will not change from last year. Paducah Public Schools superintendent Donald Shively estimates that choosing the compensating rate will keep the district tax fund balance steady at about $7.7 million.

In other business: Mid-year graduate Tytianna Norman received her diploma from Paducah Tilghman High School. Morgan students gave a thank-you card to Paducah Bank in appreciation for the 150th anniversary t-shirts that Paducah Bank gave to the faculty, staff, and students of Paducah Public Schools. The board heard comments from parents and community members on the district’s current grading scale, and skills that graduates need to be college and career ready.

Monday’s meeting was the first in a series of traveling board meetings. Board meetings will take place at PTHS in October, Choices Educational Center in November, Clark in December, Morgan in January 2015, and McNabb in February 2015. 

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