key faq
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
What is new
about the election process?
On April 21, 2008, ballots will be mailed to active
Over the past three years, the state has provided a much
higher percent of the cost of living increases.
This year, state funding has dropped below true costs.
The impact leaves schools in need of a $2.72 million levy from local
taxpayers to be able to offer the same quality instruction to students in
the coming year as was offered last year.
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Doesn’t the
state pay for education?
In
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The Governor
says schools have been well funded. Why
do they need more?
The Governor and the legislature authorized one-time-only
money to schools for such things as energy costs, capital improvements,
facility maintenance, and constitutionally-mandated expenses.
Much of that money cannot be spent for classroom instruction.
This levy will continue the core instructional program for children
in the classrooms. It will also
add three elementary school counselors to support children in stress and
allow Great Falls Public Schools to maintain accreditation in accordance
with student-to-counselor ratios set by the state.
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What happens if
the schools get more funding from other sources?
The District has a long history of being good stewards of
the taxpayers’ money. Last
year, the state provided more funding than was anticipated, so the District
only levied (collected) 6 mills in taxes when 19 mills had been authorized
in the levy election. Fewer mills were needed and fewer mills were levied.
The District will operate the same way this year.
At maximum, it will cost $55.03 per year on a $100,000 home.
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Doesn’t the
District have Reserves and a PPL tax distribution that will fix the problem?
For 7 years PPL protested its taxes.
To maintain the instructional program, the District spent
approximately half that money, but reserved some in case the suit was lost
and the District had to repay PPL.
Now that the suit is resolved, the District is free to use that
reserve. If the entire amount
were put in the budget in one year, it would be “equalized” across the state
and would reduce the amount of money that could be collected for

