BCLUW board sets preliminary tax rate for 2017-2018

During an almost three-hour meeting on Monday evening, the BCLUW board of education set its preliminary property tax rate for the 2017-2018 school year and discussed budgetary matters at the high school media center.
           
According to Superintendent Ben Petty, the total levy for 2017-2018 will be approximately $12.95 per $1,000 of valuation, which is just a few hundredths of a cent below last year’s rate. He also noted that auditors informed the district it will no longer be able to fund lawn care for athletic facilities through the Physical Plant and Equipment Levy (PEPL) and Secure an Advanced Vision for Education (SAVE) funds, and those expenses will need to come from the general fund.
           
Later in the meeting, the board discussed some of the recent developments at the statehouse, where collective bargaining rights for public employees, including teachers, have been scaled back, and many items other than base wages that were previously required to be bargained are now only optional. Members seemed to agree that the situation wasn’t as dire as many opponents of the bill are painting it to be. 
 
Read more in this week's Grundy Register.