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LRSD school trustee Wayne Ruff announces expenditures for the 2012-13 budget. (PHOTO BY ARIELLE GODBOUT)

The average homeowner in Louis Riel School Division can expect to pay an additional $43 in school property taxes this year.

The school board revealed its draft budget at a Feb. 15 public meeting. Expenditures for the 2012-13 school year have been pegged at $151,874,392, a 2.9% increase over the division’s 2011-12 budget.

Finance committee chair and school trustee Tom Parker explained LRSD is dealing with a number of constraints this year, namely the elimination of the tax incentive grant — provincial funding offered to divisions in exchange for a tax freeze — along with a zero percent increase in the operating grant offered by the province.

At the same time, the division is dealing with rising costs, particularly increasing salaries.

"It was not an easy budget. It was a lot of work," Parker said. "In order to maintain what we have, we have to increase taxes."

That means no new programming or major increases in resources are projected for the division next year, he added.

"This (tax) increase basically keeps us at status quo," he said.

The division has frozen school taxes for the last four years thanks to the tax incentive grant. Its last increase, in 2007, was also 2.9%.

Trustee Sandy Nemeth explained 2012 is a reassessment year for the city, meaning property values have been reevaluated and the division has dropped its mill rate to compensate — from 14.200 in 2011 to 12.799 this year.

But with property values rising in general, that still means the owner of an average home within the division assessed at $266,400 will pay an additional $43.

Parker warned the draft budget is subject to change, noting the board plans on approving its final budget on March 13 — two days prior to the province’s deadline for school budgets.

He noted the division is still expecting three funding announcements from the province: a cap on class sizes for kindergarten to Grade 3; assistance for aboriginal students; and raising the compulsory attendance age to 18.

"There’s a lot of unknowns before we make our final decision," Parker said, adding, "Our gut feeling is we won’t get much."

To learn more about the draft budget, visit www.lrsd.net. Feedback or questions can be directed to Pat Trottier at budget@lrsd.net or 257-7827 before March 13.

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arielle.godbout@canstarnews.com