Expanding the Wanatah School building to accommodate high school classes could lead to an increase on the school district’s property taxes, but only temporarily. That’s according to public finance firm Stifel.
During a presentation on the proposal last week, Stifel Managing Director Jim Elizondo explained that a bond issue of just under $3 million could increase taxes by an estimated 5.7 cents per $100 of assessed valuation. “We’re talking about increasing it in ’21, if the project were to proceed, keeping it at that newly-established level for three years, and then it would drop back down to closer in line to where you are now,” he said.
Elizondo said that would raise the school district’s total property tax rate to almost 74 cents next year. He pointed out that would still be lower than many other nearby school districts, with South Central at nearly $1.07 and Knox at over $1.26.
The exact impact would depend on the type of property and where it’s located. “Generally, if you live in Wanatah or LaCrosse, you’re going to hit circuit breaker much quicker and may have no increase to you taxes from this project, where the townships will have some type of tax impact because you’re below the circuit breaker,” Elizondo explained.
The tax rate would also depend on interest rates and the school district’s net assessed value at the time the bond is issued. Elizondo said the preliminary estimate assumed that the bond would be paid back over 20 years and that the school corporation would lessen the tax impact by only paying interest for the first three years, until some of its existing debt is paid off.
The $3 million figure would likely be enough to add a five-classroom addition to the Wanatah School, but would be far less than the $6.6 million Performance Services believes it would take to renovate the 105-year-old LaCrosse High School.
