May 6, 2025 Income Tax Levy Request

ANSWER:

Quick Answer: The Milton-Union Board of Education voted on January 21st at their regular meeting to place a new income tax levy on the May 6, 2025 ballot for consideration.  The Income Tax request would be 0.75% for 5 years, with the purpose being for operations only.  This would be in addition to the existing income tax, but at a fixed time period of 5 years.

• New 0.75% Income Tax - Operations

• 5 year – Fixed Time Period

• Will generate est. $1.8 million annually

• Collections begin in 2026.

• Costs $31.25 per month ($375 annually) for a family making $50,000 per year

Want to know when the last time Milton-Union received Operations money – it was 2008!  For more information about the funding the school has received check out this Chatter.

Long Answer:  The District has to again request an income tax for operations due to the failure of the Fall 2024 request.  As each request fails, the District is obligated to make additional cuts to meet State requirements. To date, the District has made roughly $1.25 million in cuts to the budget, which is reflected in the current five-year forecast - that is still going into the red. More cuts will be necessary if additional revenue is not voted in. The District cannot cut its way out of the deficit that is reflected in the next five years.  

Why not ask for an Income Tax, so Everyone is Taxed equally?

Since there is an existing Earned Income Tax (1.25%), the District is not permitted to request anything other than an additional Earned Income Tax on the ballot. Additionally, this existing earned income tax is tied to the bonds for the school construction, and therefore are limited to their ability to be modified. Unfortunately, modifying the existing 1.25% is not an option, without a guarantee to cover the existing PI bonds.

The last three failed, why are they asking again?

Every time a request fails, the District moves further from getting out of the hole, and requires additional funding to move back into a positive financial direction. As noted above, they are not financially able to only cut their way out of the situation, they MUST have new revenue. Not asking for the funds would be irresponsible, as they are attempting to do everything they can to assure that services, staff, and the quality of the Bulldog experience are not negatively changed. Each time a levy fails it requires the District to make additional cuts that impact our children's experiences at Milton-Union, but even those cuts will not be enough to cover the shortfall. It is important to give the community an opportunity to pass levies before additional cuts are made.

What is different from November, 2024?

The only difference is the time period. The request is now 0.75% for 5 years, instead of 10 years. There was much discussion about the time period, so the District reduced it to the minimum necessary to pay off the school district bonds and allow for a re-balancing of the 1.25% after that 5 years. Additional information about the goals for the 5 year time period will be presented in the future.

Additional Information

This request is again an Earned Income Tax, which means that only those with earned incomes would pay for the tax. Retirees, and residents on fixed incomes like pensions and social security WILL NOT pay this tax.

Additional information will be coming on the Earned Income Tax request, with FAQ's, responses to common questions, and other information (with data!) that can be shared.

At this point in time it is MUA's understanding that the funding will be used to:

• Cover the increasing costs of day-to-day operations and maintenance of the district.

• Avoid additional cuts in staffing and courses for students.

• Provide students with up-to-date, rigorous curriculum materials, technology, and other resources.

• Preserve and care for buildings, facilities, grounds, and transportation fleet.