Mill levies vote called, price to be determined

Zach White

As the Havre Public School District tries to deal with Hill County's mill levy mix-up, the Board of Trustees has started looking at next year's levies.

At Tuesday's school board meeting, the board approved the inclusion of two new levies, for the elementary and high school districts, in the May 3 election.

Superintendent Andy Carlson explained to the board that it is likely the district will need the levy, but no one knows how much will be needed yet. And no one will know until the Legislature takes some action on statewide school funding, though the district will have to come up with levy amounts by April 8.

Carlson said that the amount could really be anything.

"Ideally, we don't have to run levies, " Carlson said. "I'm not entirely optimistic that that will happen. "

He said it would be a positive outcome to see similar levies to last year's.

The real struggle, Carlson said, was balancing what was best for the the district's students and the school's bank account.

"It's difficult making changes between what is educationally sound and what we need to stay within fiscal constraints, " Carlson said. "We can't do more with less. You can only do less with less. "

More funding would allow more flexibility in what the schools could do, and Carlson said he would be heading to Helena next week "to try and get some flexibility. "

Havre schools already have a bit more flexibility than other district's, which Carlson attributed to the district's good planning.

"I think we're better off than some, " Carlson said. "I know some people are watching what's going on (in the Legislature) and thinking, 'If this doesn't happen, we're in trouble. '"

One of the main bills Carlson said Havre and other districts across the state are watching closely is a bill being requested by Sen. Llew Jones, D-Conrad.

"That bill and some of the things with it are very important, " Carlson said. "If that goes through, it will have a big effect on our local taxpayers. "

Carlson said that the district will be holding a meeting on Monday, March 28, at 6:30 p. m. in the Havre Middle School Library to talk with taxpayers about mill levies, including the new ones in the election on May 3, and to clear up misconceptions people may have about the recent mix-up in the county.

The superintendent wanted to make sure people know that the additional taxes people are being required to pay do not have to do with last year's mill levy, but were the result of an accounting error in the Hill County Treasurer's office.

Even before the meeting, Carlson wants to make it clear that if anyone has any questions about the mix-up they should feel free to come to the Robins School Administrative Building and talk about the situation with either him or the district's clerk, Zella Witter.

"The biggest misconception I've heard is that this is because of the high school mill levy from last year and that is not the case, " Carlson said. "Please come in. It doesn't matter what time. Come in and I will try to provide answers.

"It was not a mistake that we made. We didn't play a part in this. "