The Hanover School Division’s Board of Trustees recently approved their budget for the upcoming school year. The budget, which anticipates an increase in enrollment of 71 students, provides funding for continued growth.
The division, which retains one of the lowest cost per student averages in the province, says that it is committed to reducing the impact of this growth on school taxes.
Hanover’s operating expenses for 2018–19 are estimated to be $90.2 million dollars, reflecting a 2.74 percent increase in expenditures from the year before. To cover these costs, the budget allows for the hiring of additional teaching staff.
Provincial funding has increased by three percent, but these funds also cover a portion of the division’s revenues. Because 40 percent of revenues come from local taxation, Hanover School Division will raise its educational tax levy by 2.72 percent. However, due to property reassessment and estimated growth, this will actually result in a small decrease of the local mill rate from 15.29 to 15.14. On a hypothetical home assessed at $250,000, this results in a savings of $17.
It must be noted that approval of this new mill rate is conditional upon the continuation of the province’s Early Years Enhancement Grant.
