Rochester, MN (KROC-AM News) - The Rochester School Board is being asked set the school district’s preliminary property tax levy for the next year at about $52.7 million.

That is the amount the state has calculated as the district’s maximum levy for 2018 and is almost $1.2 million, or 2.2-percent lower than the amount of property tax that will be collected by the public school system this year.

School district officials say the main reason for the drop is a short-term decrease in the long-term facilities maintenance budget due to the use of bonding to cover the cost of the Hoover Elementary School addition project. Property owners may also see a drop in the school district portion of their tax bill next year because the tax base is projected to grow from $11.9 billion to about $12.8 billion due to higher values of existing properties and new construction in the school district.

The School Board has until October 3rd to certify the maximum levy, while the final 2018 levy is expected to be adopted during the School Board’s meeting on December 12th.

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