Levy Certification in Minnesota
School Management Services has been reliably helping school districts of all different sizes with their needs for many years. We work throughout the state of Minnesota and have the skills to manage everything, from financial records and accounting to human resources. One of the things that many school districts enlist our help for is the management of their tax levy.
This is the total amount of property taxes that their district needs to pay after accounting for all their other revenue sources. A levy is an important number that will determine the tax rates for the local areas that the district is made up of. Learn more about the different levy solutions we provide below.
Levy service options
Levy Planning
– SMS will help districts exercise the little control they have over the annual levy. For the most part, the district is at the mercy of the State when it comes to shifts between State aid and local levy. However, there are a few items that the district can anticipate. SMS will help identify the proper amount of operating levy referendum authority for the district and strategize the timing for beginning efforts to renew or initiate a new referendum authority.
Levy Certification – SMS will perform all the necessary tasks and meet all deadlines in preparing the annual levy certification for the district. This includes communicating preliminary levy amounts to the school board ahead of the official Truth-in-Taxation hearing and final Board approval of the certified levy.
Board Communication – SMS will communicate the maximum levy amount and options for adjusting the levy to facilitate the long-range levy plan.
Truth-in-Taxation Hearing – SMS will prepare a presentation regarding the preparation of the annual levy, legislative impacts, and other factors impacting the proposed levy and communicate them to the board and public via the annual Truth-in-Taxation hearing.
