The Board of Education, Central Administration and Citizens' Advisory Committee on School Finance are currently reviewing a budget proposal that falls between $66,431,925 and $67,904,325 for the 2004-05 school year. Respectively, these numbers represent a 5.87 percent or 8.22 percent budget-to-budget increase. After completing comprehensive meetings with the community, the board will finalize the budget prior to the April 15 budget hearing.

It is important to note that the increase in next year's budget is being driven by external forces outside the control of the district (i.e. Employee Retirement System, Teacher Retirement System, and health benefit costs). These factors, which are mandated and must be included in the operating budget, will add nearly $4 million to the 2004-05 budget.

While the Board and Central Administration continue to closely examine the budget, the following is a simplified explanation of the estimated monthly impact for the homeowner.

Property	Per Month Tax Increase	Per Month Tax Increase
Market Value	Under 5.87% Budget	Under 8.22% Budget
$600,000	$37.40	$51.95
$700,000	$43.63	$60.61
$800,000	$49.87	$69.27
$900,000	$56.10	$77.93
$1,000,000	$62.33	$86.58

The above is an estimated monthly increase based upon various property market values.