RV board looking at mill rate decrease in 2026-27 budget

The Royal Valley Board of Education is proposing a slight mill rate decrease to fund the district’s budget for the 2026-27 school year. 

The board is proposing a budget funded by 44.999 mills, which is a decrease of .245 mills from last year’s rate of 45.244 mills. 

“The leadership team at Royal Valley has worked very hard to keep the mill rate basically flat starting with the 2023-24 school year and continuing through this upcoming school year,” Board President Boone Smith said at last month’s board meeting. “A lot of credit goes to Superintendent Aaric Davis for executing the budget so that we can provide a quality education while providing appropriate pay and benefits to our staff without having to raise the mill rate.”

The district’s overall assessed valuation has been set at $47,705,976, which is a $1,808,877 increase from last year’s assessed valuation of $45,897,099. An increase in assessed valuation allows the district to keep a similar mill rate for the 2025-26 budget but still collect some additional tax funds. 

The proposed budget is expected to generate a total of $1,896,579 in local taxes, compared to $1,837,341 last year, which is an increase of $59,238 in new tax funds.

The board’s proposed budget includes levying 20 mills for the general fund, 18.023 mills for the Local Option Budget (LOB) and 6.976 mills for capital outlay. 

“We could be at a max of eight,” Superintendent Aaric Davis said of the capital outlay mill levy. “That’s just our choice as a district what we do there.”

For the 2025-26 budget, the district levied 20 mills for the general fund (at required by state law), 18.0777 mills for the LOB and 7.167 mills for capital outlay. 

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