What happens if Prop E passes?
Voter approval of Prop E will enable Mehlville School District to protect and improve the quality of staffing in the district, and help the district avoid deficit spending. A stable teacher workforce positively affects student achievement. Student safety and wellbeing is improved with fully staffed custodial, transportation and other critical support staff positions.
What happens if Prop E fails?
Without the added revenue generated by Prop E, Mehlville School District would face the following:
- Continued workforce shortages among critical employee groups like bus drivers, custodians and school food workers that threaten the district’s ability to provide essential services
- Fewer highly qualified applicants for teaching positions and higher teacher turnover as Mehlville School District faces growing competition to hire certified teachers
- Deficit spending just to provide employees with wage increases to match inflation and cost of living increases
How much will Prop E cost me?
Prop E is an operating tax rate increase of 31 cents for each $100 of assessed value. This means the annual tax increase for the owner of a $200,000 home would be approximately $118 per year, or just under $10 per month. The increase for an owner of a $300,000 home would be approximately $177 per year or about $15 per month.
Can Mehlville cut its budget or use its reserves to prevent the need for a tax increase?
Mehlville School District already has the lowest blended tax rate of all 22 school districts in St. Louis County in fiscal year 2021. Additionally, our expense per student, which represents normal daily operating expenses, is one of the lowest in the county in fiscal year 2022, ranking 19th out of 21 reporting school districts in the county.
The district budgets with efficiency in mind and strives to be a good steward of taxpayer dollars. We have demonstrated a high level of fiscal responsibility despite our consistently lean budget.
Salaries are the district’s top expense. More than 80 percent of our budget goes toward salaries and benefits. Any budget cuts would threaten programs and services to students.
Mehlville School District has healthy reserves, and it has taken the district about a decade to build these up. Reserves are necessary to ensure the district does not have to engage in short-term borrowing to cover payroll. Our reserves also help us safely weather unforeseen economic downturns and avoid sudden budget cutting measures. The district’s finance committee, composed of residents with expertise in accounting and finance, recommends maintaining our reserve budget at levels to avoid short-term borrowing.
My personal property taxes increased this year. Why can’t Mehlville use those funds to increase salaries?
Historic levels of inflation (about 8% in 2022) impacted personal property taxes last year. The tax increase was directly related to the increased value of used vehicles.
Increased expenses for Mehlville School District are outpacing the revenue we receive from taxes, including the increased revenue we’ve received from personal property taxes.