The Crawford School Board meets tonight at 6:00 in the school’s Distance Learning Building with an agenda that includes final action on the new budget for the fiscal year that begins October 1st.
Under a state law that took effect last year, all school districts and governmental subdivisions with property taxing power must hold joint Truth in Taxation public hearings if their property tax request increases by more than the “allowable growth percentage.”
Nebraska’s “allowable growth percentage” is 2% plus the “real growth percentage” of increased valuation, which is 2% plus new construction, remodeling, annexation, changes in property use, and tax increment financing projects.
A special pink postcard must be sent by the county to all property owners announcing the Truth in Taxation hearings, such as the one the Crawford and Chadron school boards held last Thursday, but some of the Dawes County postcards were late.
County Clerk Cheryl Feist says the printer in Lincoln got the information on Sept 6 with the printer getting them mailed by the 8th, but a number of landowners reported not getting the postcard or not getting it until after the hearing on the 14th.
Feist says she’s heard from officials in other counties who also had late or missing postcards, so the issue wasn’t limited to Dawes County. She also emphasizes the public hearing was publicized in a press release.
Still, she’s encouraging interest patrons of both the Chadron and Crawford school districts to check out the budget and attend the board meetings where it will be adopted
Again, the Crawford school board is doing that tonight at 6:00 in the Distance Learning Building. The Chadron school board will approve its budget in a special session next Monday at 5:00 in the Central Office.
School boards do not want input, I attended one last year and they refused to listen to we the people who work for a living.