City of Aurora, Hampton Public Schools on agenda to explain proposed budget hikes
Citizens of Aurora and Hampton Public School patrons received pink postcards in the mail this week, alerting them of proposed budget increases that will impact their property taxes in the coming year.
Those budgets will be the lone topic of conversation Thursday at a Joint Public Tax Request Hearing, often referred to as the “Pink Postcard” meeting. That hearing is scheduled to begin at 6:15 p.m. at Aurora City Hall.
According to a public notice published in last week’s ANR, the City of Aurora will be up first on the agenda to share information pertaining to a proposed $2,714,840 property tax request for the coming fiscal year. That request is up $751,816, or 38 percent, from a year ago, which exceeds the state’s allowable growth percentage.
Asked Monday to explain the reason for the hefty budget increase, City Administrator Rick Melcher declined to comment, saying he would prefer to share that information during Thursday’s public hearing when he can answer any questions that may arise.
According to a public notice in this week’s edition, a breakdown of property taxes listed the personal and real property tax required for non-bond purposes at $2,269,468, an increase of $651,161 from the previous year. Similarly, the personal and real tax required for city bonds was listed at $445,371, up $100,655 from the previous year.
The city’s proposed tax levy reflects an increase as well, as Melcher reported the proposed general fund levy at 43.9 cents and the bond fund at 8.6 cents, for a total of 52.5 cents per $100 assessed valuation. That compares to last year’s total city tax levy of 38.6 cents per $100 assessed valuation.
Hampton Public School
Hampton Public School’s proposed 2024-25 budget is listed at $2,610,463.
Supt. Holly Herzberg explained during the Sept. 9 school board meeting that HPS tripped the trigger requiring an appearance at the joint public hearing based in part on the district’s special building fund.
“So we have a lid on how high we can go up to that number, and it’s grown every year by what you tax in the previous year,” she explained during last week’s board meeting. “Well, the previous eight years we hadn’t taxed in the building fund. So this year, we’re choosing to tax in the building fund because we paid off one of our bonds. Therefore, all that taxation for the building fund is being added to where there used to be a zero, and so that is the reason we’re exceeding that number.”
Herzberg said in reality the district is not raising taxes but simply shifting what’s known as the QCPUF bond (which will be paid off at the end of the year) over to the building fund. She said the QCPUF was done in 2014 and was for improvements to the indoor air quality of the high school.
“So we put in air conditioning, we put in new windows, new doors, took out the old boilers, and put in an HVAC system that brings in fresh air,” she said, adding that the bond will be paid off in December.
”So we felt like this was a good time,” Herzberg continued. “We told our patrons we weren’t going to ask for money in the building fund until we had one of those paid off, and that one’s paid off, so we’re shifting it over.”
“I don’t think we should be afraid of the Pink Postcard Meeting,” Herzberg told the board. “We’re being fiscally responsible and this gives us an opportunity to go before the public and explain the budget.”
She also pointed out that because property valuations in the district are currently at the highest in history at $457,646,622, the mill levy “will drop significantly.” She also noted that one penny of levy currently brings in $45,000 in tax revenues and the overall tax asking will go up by 1.6 percent.
Herzberg also explained that, while the board could go ahead and approve the 2024-25 budget at Monday’s meeting, it would be better to wait until after the Sept. 19th tax request hearing. The board moved to set a special meeting for Monday, Sept. 23 at 8 p.m. to take care of that item of business.