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Schools

Orono residents could pay second-lowest school taxes in county for 2011

Several fiscal factors signal positive outlook.

In tough economic times for public schools, the Orono School District is trying to keep school taxes for residents among the lowest in Hennepin County.

The district, outlining the 2011 proposed tax levies for property owners in 14 Hennepin County school districts, found that residents within the Orono School District will likely pay the second-lowest school taxes in the county.

“One of the key elements to keeping school taxes down is that we’ve tried to be extremely conservative with operating and capital projects and the levies we sought from our voters,”  School Board Chairman John Malone said. “We’ve tried to be conservative in what we’ve asked for.”

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The district compared tax levies for residences with a $300,000 market value. In Orono, according to district officials, those taxes going for schools will be $929.

Only homeowners in Westonka, according to the study, are paying lower school taxes in 2011 — $717. At the opposite end is Robbinsdale, where the proposed school tax bill was $1,769. Among school districts rimming Lake Minnetonka, 2011 school taxes are $1,254 in Wayzata and $1,315 in Minnetonka. According to Malone, the figures were determined from numbers provided by the Minnesota Department of Education.

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Figures are considered proposed amounts by the Orono School District until Hennepin County provides final approval of the 2011 property assessment and taxes in mid-April. District officials don't anticipate the final amounts will vary significantly for district residents.

Property taxes are determined each year by the state, Hennepin County, Orono School Board and voters in the district. Several factors contribute to the tax rate, district officials said.

“A building bond refinance that happened a few years ago was feasible due to the excellent bond rating we’ve been getting, one of very few in the state,” Malone said. “It qualified us for refinancing, which was favorable to residents in our district.”

Holding the line on new expenditures, according to Orono School District Director of Business Services Tom Stringer, as well as some lower levies have contributed to proposed lower school tax rate for 2011.

While additional savings are recommended in the proposed budget, Stringer said, none of that money would come from the classrooms. Orono Superintendent Karen Orcutt said hers and neighboring school districts are giving students “optimum educational opportunities” with a decreased amount of funding. 

“None of the local school districts have enough money to do what they would like for serving students in this 21st Century,” she said. “We have a long tradition of excellence in education coupled with a tradition of conservative budgeting and very conservative revenue streams. We do fabulous work with very small dollars. All of us need more funding currently and will need more in the future.”

Other positive reflections on the district’s budget, according to Malone, have been average or increasing enrollment and monetary gifts from the Orono Alliance for Education group. According to the Orono Alliance for Education website, the group has provided $2.8 million to the Orono School District since 2000 to “maintain reasonable class sizes and enhance curricular options for students.”

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