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The Albert Lea school board voted 7-0 Monday on a 2.44% decrease in the district’s levy that will be collected in 2025.

Paul Durbahn, executive director of finance, operations and safety for Albert Lea Area Schools, said the difference in the levy equates to about $245,000. The levy was set at about $9.79 million, down from $10.04 million collected this year.

Funds will be used in the 2025-26 school year.

Durbahn said the levy includes the general fund, community service fund and the debt service fund. In the general fund, the $651,572 levy decrease was mainly attributed to a projected decline in enrollment and a referendum adjustment of $223,000 that was made to last year’s levy. The operating referendum was adjusted for 2.43% inflation, and there was a decrease in long-term facilities maintenance costs of about $362,000. The long-term facilities maintenance costs are now under the debt service fund.

He said Community Education saw a slight levy increase of $5,496. The debt service fund, which saw a $401,170 levy increase from last year, includes principal and interest payment for fiscal year 2026 plus 5%, along with the bond payments for the long-term facilities maintenance projects.

Residential homes that saw no change in value for 2025 are expected see a decrease by 7 to 10% in the school district portion of taxes. A residential property that increased about 4% in value would still see an about 3 to 6% decline.

Durbahn said about 81% of the district’s general fund revenue comes from state aid, along with 12% from the local levy and 4% from federal aid. For expenditures, about 80% goes toward salaries and benefits.

School property taxes on a residential home valued at $100,000 since 2018 show a steady decline from $437 in 2018 to $336 in 2025.

He noted a lot of what people are seeing on their proposed property tax forms has to do with property valuations.

“A lot of times the biggest driver of what’s happening with their taxes is the property valuation,” he said.

Durbahn said enrollment is challenging to predict, but noted that projections are tracking closely. He will have more to provide once the Oct. 1 enrollment number comes back from the state in January. There will be a revised budget after that.