Anaconda School District #10

Anaconda School District General Fund Operational Levy - May 2, 2023.  Over the past year our school district has had two significant contracts terminated that have resulted in budget deficits within our school district.  The termination of the AWARE contract reduced historic student populations by 30-40 students and the termination or sun-setting of the TIFD by the county decreased the districts ability to use those tax dollars by about $450,000.  As a result of these contracts terminating, the Anaconda School District is facing a large budget deficit.  To combat this deficit the Anaconda School District has analyzed areas that they can cut to reduce the impact on our students; cuts to supplies, computer programs, and staff all will be initiated.  In order to maintain and operate our school district efficiently the school district is asking for the following levies to be approved by the voters:   High School District:  $94,999 and Elementary School District:  $198,596   This levy will be used for our district operations and to allow us to stay on par with neighboring districts when it comes to offering an education that is funded adequately and offer the same services to our students and staff and help us retain current employees.  Areas school districts in Dillon, Butte, Deer Lodge, Ramsay, and Philipsburg all operate at a higher percent of a maximum budget than Anaconda.  We are asking for a budget that would be 97.5% of our maximum budget.  Currently our beginning teacher salary ($35,790) ranks 13th out of 15 when compared to schools our same size.  Inflation rates are currently around 6.4% and we are facing increases to health insurance, insurance in general, supply costs, and costs to keep students connected and with computer devices and access.  These levies will address those concerns and also give us the ability to offer our staff increases to help recruit new teachers and retain the current great staff that we have.  The cost of the levy to the taxpayer is:   The owner of a $100,000 house would see an increase to their taxes of $18.40 for the Elementary District and an increase of $8.52 for the high school.