During the Concord School Board’s annual budget workshop on Monday, September 19, board members heard an overview of the 2023 budget.
The workshop included an overview of the following four funds:
Education Fund: An account that funds educational programming for students, including teacher salaries. The amount is determined by enrollment.
Operations Fund: An account used for funding transportation, utilities, and other necessary school operations (not classroom dollars). The amount is supported by local tax dollars.
Debt Service Fund: An account used to make debt service payments. The levy is raised from local sources, as determined by the Department of Local Government Finance.
Referendum Fund: A taxpayer-supported account used to supplement the Education and Operations Fund. The referendum was not renewed and therefore no additional dollars will be collected in this fund.
Click here to access a copy of the proposed 2023 budget.
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2023 BUDGET OVERVIEW
Education Fund: $36,786,236
Operations Fund: $14,180,379
Debt Service Fund: $12,238,301
Referendum Fund: $4,907,000 ** NOTE: There is no tax rate or levy for this account in 2023. This provides Concord Community Schools permission to appropriate funds that have been previously collected.
TOTAL: $68,111,916
The public hearing on the budget will be held October 4, with the proposed adoption on October 17.
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TAX RATE AND LEVY INFORMATION
The advertised property tax rate for the 2023 budget is $1.7517. However, it is important to understand that the adopted rate is not the final rate. The board-adopted rate will be reduced at the time the Department of Local Government Finance (the state agency that works through the budget approvals) finalizes the 2023 budget for Concord Community Schools. The actual tax rate for 2022 was $1.5646, down from the advertised rate of $2.2223.
When the final tax rate is set, it will be below the current rate, provided that assessed value remains the same. This means that residents who live within the Concord Community Schools district will not see an increase in their tax rate or levy on the school portion of their tax bill.
In 2022, the approved property tax levy -- the total amount of funds that a unit of government may collect on a tax rate -- totaled $21.7 million. In 2023, the total approved property tax levy will not exceed $20.6 million, a savings of nearly $1.4 million for Concord taxpayers.
For comparison purposes, the following chart shows the rate that was adopted each year, compared to the final rate. Typically schools and other taxing units advertise and adopt rates that are higher than the final rates.
Year Advertised Rate Actual Rate
2018 $2.5599 $1.7985
2019 $2.2734 $1.7784
2020 $1.8403 $1.7784
2021 $2.1084 $1.6958
2022 $2.2223 $1.5646
2023 $1.7517 TBD, but not to exceed $1.5646
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GENERAL OBLIGATION BOND
As part of the board’s budget plan for 2023, Concord Community Schools has taken the preliminary steps to take out a General Obligation Bond in the amount of $3.25 million.
The proceeds of the General Obligation bond will be used to fund the purchase of school buses, technology infrastructure, and improvements to school facilities such as carpet, ceiling tiles, lights, HVAC work, sealing of parking lots, and replacing a boiler.
This is debt replacement and will not increase taxes. Concord’s 2023 budget plan includes an effort to lower the tax rate and levy so taxpayers in our district can expect to pay less on the school portion of their tax bill.