Red River Valley School Division’s budget for the 2012-13 school year is expected to increase by 2.4%, but most homeowners in the region will see the amount they pay in school taxes decrease.

The division’s total budget for next year is expected to be $24.3 million. That represents an increase of $600,000, or 2.4%, compared to its budget of $23.7 million for the current 2011-12 school year.

In 2011, the owner of a typical home assessed at $100,000 in Prairie Rose paid a net amount of $130.70 in school taxes. However, that amount is expected to drop to $31.25 this year.

Division superintendent Pauline Lafond-Bouchard said the decrease can be attributed to an overall increase in assessments throughout the division.

"It really just comes down to the assessment," she said. "It is a combination of more properties and an increase of value of homes in the area. But basically the increase in our operating budget is because of the assessment."

Lafond-Bouchard noted the decrease may vary from municipality to municipality depending on the amount of growth and property values in those respective communities.

It will be a slightly different scenario in Prairie Rose School Division, which will see its operating budget rise to $25.3 million, an increase of about $1.17 million or 4.8% from last year.

Prairie Rose homeowners will likely see their tax bill increase marginally, despite a drop in the mill rate from 14.8 to 13.87.

Division secretary treasurer Agnes Gaultier said the owner of a house assessed at $100,000 will see a tax increase of $12.28.

"The mill rate is dropping because of reassessment, but for the most part it is very hard to pin down exactly how much individual homeowner’s will be paying," Gaultier explained.

"Yes, taxes will go up, but how much your assessment went up is the defining factor."

Representatives for the two divisions say they don’t expect any changes to programming as a result of their respective budgets. Most of the additional funding will be spent on increased salaries for teachers and other staff.

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