Columbia Falls School District 6 homeowners should see a reduction in their primary residence school taxes this year due to an increased valuation of the district and changes in state tax law.

Due to changes in state property tax laws  passed in the last Legislative session and a 27% increase in the district’s valuation, a home assessed for $600,000 should see a tax bill reduction from $1,148 to about $674. 

“This decrease of $474 annually, or 41% reduction would more than pay for the proposed high school bond levy,” District Clerk Dustin Zuffelato noted in a report to the school board on Aug. 17.

The $75.9 million high school remodel bond, if passed by voters, is expected to have a tax impact of about $320 a year. (See related story).

Still, there could be some funding challenges in the years ahead, as enrollments continue to slump. The kindergarten enrollment as school starts Wednesday is expected to be about 128 and it’s been right around 120 students give or take for the past few years now.

Overall, the district projects next year that the “average number belonging” in the high school will go down 14 students and in the elementary school about 53.

Average number belonging is a state formula used to determine enrollment. The state allows districts to use the numbers on an annual basis or a three-year average. The district has opted to use the average, as it would take an even bigger hit without it. But over time, the average does catch up the numbers if they stay low.

For example, the high school has an ANB of 690, but the actual, as of the end of last year, was 659. The elementary ANB is at 1,565, but the actual is 1,523.

Overall, actual enrollment at the end of last year was 2,098, which is as low as it was in 2021, one of the years of the pandemic.

The bottomline is state funding is tied, in part, to enrollment, so the fewer students a school has, the less money it gets. 

This year the district trimmed 4.5 full-time teaching positions through retirements and attrition, Meanwhile, teachers who work for the district saw a modest increase to their base salaries of 2.15%, according to a budget presentation to the board.

Still, the district will be able to spend more on special education and  will also fund baseball, at about $20,000 annually. The special education funding  increased about $324,000.

 All told, the 2027 fiscal year elementary budget is $22.8 million, up about 2.12% and the high school is $9.53 million, down about $1.1 million over last year, or 10%. The high school saw a drop from its building reserve, as there is no longer bond funding for the roof repairs, which are completed.

The bond for the roof will drop off the tax rolls, as it was a two-year measure.

A complete video on the school budget is on the high school website at: www.cfmtschools.net/school-board/board-meeting-recordings