Tax incease may drop to 2 percent

WESTFALL — Five DV School Board members attending a special Monday work session - also the number needed for final budget passage - came to a tentative agreement on halving a planned four-percent tax increase for the new 2010-2011 budget. The lost two percent increase money, about $800,000, would come in part from fund balance — money left unspent in the current budget, plus higher revenue expectations for tax collections and several staff retirements. If approved, the tax increase would add about $60 to the bill of a property owner with an annual tax bill of $3,000, Business Manager Bill Hessling said. The budget does not cut staff, but 13 positions lost to retirement will not be refilled. Bob Goldsack, Diane French, John Kupillas and Jack Fisher did not attend.