(Garden City, KS) (westernkansasnews.com)

The Garden City USD-457 Board of Education is poised to adopt the district’s budget for the new fiscal year at a public hearing to be held on August 13^th.  The board will set the hearing date when they meet again on July 23^rd. 

Board members talked budget when they assembled on Monday night.  Garden City Public Schools Finance Director Kathleen Whitley gave the board a brief overview of the budget and the reasons why next year’s budget is projected to be about $3-million more than the budget for the fiscal year that just ended. 

Whitley says the bulk of the increase is attributable to costs associated with the district’s new facilities, like the new High School.   The proposed budget calls for a slight increase in the mill levy assessed on property owners who reside in the school district.  Whitley says the increase will result in a slight bump-up in what property owners pay:  $7.94 per $100-thousand of assessed value on residential property.  The levy was 49.19 mills last year and is proposed to rise to 49.88 mills in fiscal 2012-2013.  The total proposed general fund budget for the fiscal year that began on July 1^st is $49,602, 696.