The Board of Trustees for the Hanover School Division has approved its 2016/17 Budget. The budget includes estimated operating expenses of $83.6 million dollars, and serves the communities of Blumenort, Bothwell, Crystal Springs, Grunthal, Kleefeld, Landmark, Mitchell, Niverville and Steinbach.
The approved budget provides funding to meet the needs of divisional growth, which will require the hiring of additional teachers, learning coaches, and resource personnel. Also included within the budget is funding for new transportation safety initiatives – such as bus surveillance cameras, GPS fleet tracking, and a studentpassenger tracking system. Funding has also been provided for improved student access to learning technology.
Board Finance Chair, Rick Peters commented, “Hanover School Division continues to be a very efficient school division. Although the 2016/17 budget represents a 4.28% increase in expenditures, which is up $3.5 million dollars over last year, HSD has the lowest cost-per-student average in the province of Manitoba.” Peters also noted, “When compared to other school divisions, HSD local taxation (as a percentage of total revenue) is below the Manitoba provincial average, as are administration expenses which are amongst the lowest in the Province.”
Provincial Government funding is anticipated to be $51.5 million which comprises approximately 60% of HSD annual operating revenue. The remaining 40% of revenue is obtained through education taxes in the form of a division-wide Mill Rate. The 2016 Mill Rate will decrease from 16.02 to 14.94, but due to property reassessments, the education tax levy will increase by 2.24%. Compared to the previous year, the education tax levy on a sample house assessed at $250,000 will result in an approximate increase of $37 annually. HSD education tax increases, when viewed as cumulative average since 2010, have been equal to the Manitoba CPI inflation average for the same period of time.
Peters further commented, “Trustees were very mindful of the budgetary impact on local taxation, and worked hard to find cost savings, balancing the educational needs of our students with divisional growth. The Board of Trustees also recognizes that while tax increases are sometimes needed to maintain a high quality of education, annual marginal tax increases will have less budgetary impact on taxpayers than a large tax increase – followed by a temporary freeze. Spreading the required cost over time, evenly and marginally, reflects a recognition of household budget pressures.”
