MANDATA - The Line Mountain School Board approved a motion Tuesday night that would allow the district to apply for exceptions in case they needed to raise taxes above the maximum amount permissible by the state.
Business Manager Phil Rapant reported to the board that members would have to approve a 2013-14 preliminary budget by next month if they wanted to keep the option of exceptions on the table.
Act 1 allows school districts to raise taxes by 2.4 percent. The current millage rate for property owners in Line Mountain is 70 mills, which would allow the district to increase property taxes by 1.68 mills.
At $69,300 per each mill for property owners, the increase would bring in an additional $116,424 for the district.
If the board had voted to not go above the index, they would have had until May to approve a preliminary budget. In either case, the final budget must be passed by June.
Last year, the board approved a $16,921,548 budget and dropped 1 mill in taxes. This year, Rapant said the expenditures increased by $831,667 and revenue increased by $335,328, leaving a $496,339 hole to fill.
When it came time to vote for the exceptions, President Troy Laudenslager said he was confident the extra millage would not be needed.
However, director Lawrence Neidig said he didn't want to take the chance and not have the option to raise taxes above the index if needed.
The decision to potentially file for exceptions was unanimously passed in a block of fiscal items.