This information was put together by our legal team in response to queries about how much the tax burden from the school on local property owners has increased over the last 10 years. We received some information back that will surprise many of you, I believe.
In FY2016, the BASE levy of schools statewide was $131,163,243. In FY26, the BASE levy of schools statewide is $131,235,613, so effectively the same amount as ten years earlier.
It should be noted that the statewide BASE budget in fY16 was $888,741,592. Today the statewide BASE is $1,165,083,419. So even though BASE budgets grew over 10 years by $276,341,827, the portion coming from BASE levies did not grow at all. Put another way, the entire growth in BASE budgets over 10 years was funded entirely with increased state funding.
Your district’s numbers are even more impressive. Your BASE was $1,290,078 in FY16 and you had a BASE levy of $146,605. In FY26, your BASE has grown to $1,856,524 with a BASE levy of $106,760. That means that your (state) BASE grew by $566,445 while your (local) BASE levy actually shrank by $39,884 during the same timeframe.