by Kate Shunney
County voters will select their favored candidates for various offices during primary election voting on May 12 of this year, and will also decide whether to continue a local education levy for Morgan County Schools for the next four years.
School Superintendent David Banks briefed members of the Morgan County Board of Education at their January 6 meeting about the timeline for drafting a levy “call” – the wording about the special school levy that will appear on the May 12 ballot.
In order for the education tax renewal to appear on that ballot, the levy call must be finalized and delivered to the Morgan County Clerk’s office by March 3, said Banks.
Banks said he, School Board President Aaron Close and outgoing treasurer Ann Bell had drafted a sample levy call for school board members to review.
The proposed special levy tax is .3216 cents per $100 assessed value on Class II, or owner-occupied homes. The tax is .6412 cents per $100 assessed value on Class III properties, which are commercial properties and second homes.
The special levy is in addition to the school tax, which is set at a rate of .388 cents per $100 of assessed value for Class II properties.
As proposed, the special levy that will appear before voters, would generate $5,560,984 per year for the Morgan County school system for local priorities and purposes that are not funded by state school aid or regular school taxes, Banks said.
The special levy would fund:
–$2,558,052 to continue the salary schedule, and provide additional supplements and added benefits (dental/vision insurance) for school personnel, and support positions not included in the state’s funding formula like a treasurer and technology staff,
–$1,557,932 to support education programs like alternative education, prevention resources, academic remediation, social and emotional support, STEM and vocational programs. That includes PRO officer, athletic trips, free admission for students to extracurricular events,
–$500,000 for security, operations and maintenance of school facilities, including security add-ons at schools, locking mechanisms on classrooms and security camera replacement,
–$370,000 for capital improvements like roof projects and matching funds for SBA loans,
–$125,000 for technology like purchase of hardware, software, 1:1 technology,
–$400,000 for instructional materials for classrooms, textbooks, reading, science and math hands-on experiences and
–$50,000 for support of the Morgan County Public Library and Paw Paw Public Library.
During the 2022 election, Morgan County voters approved a renewal of the special levy at the same rate, which is 70% of the allowable tax rate the school system could use for the special levy. At that election, the estimated revenue for the special levy was $4,484,543 each year, based on the county’s assessed property values at that time. The value of Morgan County real estate and property has risen in the four years since that levy passed.
The proposed uses of the levy funds have not changed since the 2022 levy passed. That levy remains in effect for the fiscal year that begins on July 1, 2026.
If passed, the special school levy would be in effect for the fiscal years starting on July 1, 2027, 2028, 2029 and 2030.
