A decline in property values will redistribute the tax burden in the Waupaca School District.
Overall, equalized property values in the district dropped by 1.4 percent in 2010.
“This is one of the few years in the last 30 years that equalized values have actually gone down,” according to Harley Hellerud, the school district’s business manager. He noted that the district’s total equalized value increased by 1.33 percent in 2009.
Property in the Waupaca School District has a total equalized value of $1.465 billion in 2010. In 2009, the total valuation was $21 million higher.
Some areas were harder hit than others.
The municipalities that saw the largest decrease in equalized value were the town of Farmington, which dropped by $10.23 million, and Dayton, where the total equalized value declined by $5.35 million. Total equalized value fell by $4.67 million in the town of Waupaca and by $3.33 million in the town of Lind.
Of the 11 municipalities that are served in whole or in part by the Waupaca School District, only the city of Waupaca saw its equalized value increase in 2010.
The city’s total equalized value rose from $342.67 million in 2009 to $348.28 million in 2010.
“Farmington’s portion of the levy will go down and the city’s portion will go up,” Hellerud said.
In the 2009-10 school year, taxpayers in Farmington paid 32.88 percent of the district’s total levy, while those in the city of Waupaca paid 23.39 percent.
In 2010-11, Farmington’s portion of the school levy will be 32.65 percent and the city’s portion will be 23.77 percent.
This means that while both Farmington and Waupaca residents will pay the same rate of $8.86 per $1,000 of equalized value, many Waupaca residents will see higher equalized values on their 2011 tax bill than they did in 2010, resulting in a greater increase on the school and county portions of their taxes.