The Christian County School Board approved lowering district property tax rates as well as a series of construction change orders for the consolidated Christian County High School at their Thursday meeting.
Before the meeting was called to order, Assistant Superintendent, Kevin Crider announced that they have successfully completed their school campus transitions.
The old Indian Hills Elementary School campus is now home to the Martin Luther King Jr. Early Learning Center; the old Hopkinsville Middle School campus is home to Indian Hills Elementary School and the old MLK Elementary School campus is home to Hopkinsville Middle School.
Along with the transitions, Crider says Blue Grass Learning Academy II should be completed by next week.
On Wednesday evening, Superintendent Chris Bentzel issued a statement saying he was recommending for the district’s real estate property tax rate to decrease from 42.2 cents per $100 of assessed value down to 41 cents for the 2024-25 fiscal year. At Thursday’s meeting, the board unanimously approved the recommendation.
The real estate tax rate was the only rate to change for the upcoming fiscal year. The personal property tax rate will remain 42.1 cents, the motor vehicle rate will remain 56.6 cents and the utility tax will remain 3%.
Despite the slight property tax decrease, the district’s revenue is expected to increase by around $1.3 million in comparison to the revenue generated during the 2023-24 fiscal year.
In regards to the 2023-24 property tax rates, District Finance Director, Jessica Darnell shared that Christian County had the seventh lowest rate in the state despite being the eleventh most populated county.
Diving deeper into the numbers, Darnell shared that Christian County’s property assessment increased by around $417 million in comparison to last year. As a result of the property assessment increase, SEEK funding from the state has decreased by around $1.2 million.
Turning toward construction change orders for the consolidated Christian County High School, Tim Geegan with Alliance Corporation presented six change orders to the board that all together result in project cost increase of $2,104.
Geegan shared that the orders included credits such as the reduction of window shades, drywall in the restrooms and sheathing for the roof parapets, as well as expenses such as additional plywood wood for the roof parapets, soil remediation and acoustical ceilings for the restrooms. The board approved all change orders.