By CRAIG D. SCHENCK
Sentinel staff
NORTHFIELD — The Northfield School District would collect the same amount from taxpayers for 2021-22 as it did the previous year, but due to falling property values would have to increase the tax rate to do so.
The fact that the district works on a school calendar and the tax rate is established on a fiscal calendar also plays into the equation.
The total tax levy would remain at $10,736,292 but the tax rate would increase by about 1 cent under the 2021-22 spending plan, which is scheduled for a public hearing and vote Monday, April 26.
Total general operating budget is up $308,769 to $15,567,318.
Business Administrator Linda Albright stated in an email that the district received an increase in state equalization aid of $436,059. According to the budget, the district also received $1,359,940 more in preschool education aid from the state, with total state-provided revenue increasing by $1.6 million.
The school tax rate would increase from $1.224 in 2020 to $1.235 per $100 of assessed value, or $1,235 per $100,000. Last year in Northfield, where the average home price was $223,355, the average tax bill was $7,477, with the school tax (local and regional) making up 55 percent, or $4,112. If approved as proposed, the local school portion of this year’s tax bill would be $2,758, up $25.
Albright explained that tax rates are calculated on a calendar year, so while there is a slight decrease from school year 2020-21 to 2021-22, the tax rates are compared 2020 to 2021.
“Due to the fact that half of the 2021 tax rate is the current school year, coupled with declining net valuations of property again in 2021, will mean a slight increase in the 2021 tax rate of 1 cent. But school-year to school-year there is no increase in taxes,” she said.
The city’s total assessed value, $869,648,060, continues to fall, meaning the tax entity must collect more just to spend the same amount. This year ratables dropped more than $2.6 million even with $3.2 million added, mostly from the Cresson Hill apartment complex.
But that loss is much less than in years past and appears to be stabilizing in Northfield and in most of the surrounding towns. The city has lost an average of $12.3 million per year since its last revaluation in 2010, realizing a total loss of $123 million in that time.
City Council introduced its budget March 16 calling for no increase in the municipal tax rate. The governing body was scheduled to vote on it April 20.
In other good news for taxpayers, the regional school portion of Northfield’s tax rate is set to drop by 1.7 cents per $100 of assessed value to 72.3 cents. However, that is canceled out by an expected 1.8-cent increase in the county tax rate.
The district also has plans — and funding — to increase its preschool offerings from six classes to 12.
Expenditures in the budget are up $1,916,300 to $19,795,337. That includes a special revenue budget of $3,597,396 and a $1.3 million increase in preschool funding from the state.
“We are going from six classes to 12, which will serve all of Northfield’s 3- and 4-year-olds,” Albright stated in an email. “That is the reason for this large increase in state aid. The idea behind preschool expansion aid is to expand where possible to be able to provide pre-k for all 3- and 4-year-old residents, and Northfield is able to do this through the use of private providers.”