While 2026 property tax levies both in St. Louis County and the city of Ely are poised to rise, it’s not yet certain if the Ely School District will follow suit.
On Monday, school board members voted to approve a preliminary levy of “the maximum allowed by law,” but just how much money in property taxes the district will collect remains unclear.
That’s because school levies in Minnesota are formula driven rather than budget driven, and the district must wait for a levy number that’s determined by the state of Minnesota.
School boards routinely set their preliminary levy to the maximum, as action to the contrary could cost the district revenue from the state.
In 2025, the district levy rose by 12.55 percent to $2,553,449, but that was entirely the result of a November, 2024 referendum, when district voters approved a $350,000 capital project levy.
Had that levy not won voter approval, district property taxes would have gone down next year.
An assortment of factors determine school taxes in Minnesota, including student enrollment and state equalization rates. Ely’s current K-12 student population is down significantly from a year ago and off by almost 20 percent since 2017, a factor that can drive down portions of the school levy and what area property owners pay in school taxes.
Property tax levies set in the fall of 2025 are collected in 2026 and fund operations in the 2026-27 school year.
Ely’s 2026 levy is broken down in six areas, with some components encompassing all properties in the district and some excluding seasonal- recreational properties.
The $350,000 capital project levy approved last year, which school officials touted as a means to provide additional revenue for technology, transportation and curriculum expenses, cover all properties in the district.
One of the larger components of the levy is certain to be debt service, given continuing bond payments on a $20 million-plus improvement project that included the construction of a new building that houses a gymnasium, cafeteria/commons, office space, media center, music and industrial education classrooms and a single secure entry to the buildings.
Tax hikes were the direct result from voter approval of a $10 million bond for the renovation and construction project, approved in 2020.
School levies are predominantly formula-driven, with student enrollment and district property wealth among the key factors.
Ely School District property taxes have been largely stagnant the last several years, with the levy topping out at $1.9 million in 2016 but dipping to about $1.65 million the next two years before moving back up to $1,797,064 in 2020, and then climbing to as high as $2.37 million as a result of the referendum and building project.
According to a presentation a year ago, the levy amounts to about a fourth of the district’s revenues, with state sources forming the single-largest revenue stream - at 67.68 percent.
District finance manager Jordan Huntbatch said the district will receive more information related to next year’s levy later in the fall, and the total will be finalized and formally approved in December.
In other business Monday, the board:
• Received communication from Ida Rukavina, commissioner of the Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation Board, noting the state agency’s support of various school projects.
Board members agreed to send the IRRRB a letter of thanks for the various support, which included $4.4 million for additional renovations and remodeling, $325,302 in a direct allocation from the taconite production tax fund, and $250,000 for baseball field improvements.
The agency is also set to fund another $5 million for other athletic facility upgrades.
• Accepted the resignations of bus driver Mitch Lekatz and paraprofessional Nick Jones.
• Approved the hire of various staff members for the school musical, including Crystal Poppler as director and choreographer, as well as Rebecca Olson as music director, John Scully as band director and Nick Holtz and Jane Dandron-Holtz as technicians.
• Received word that staff members from SEH would be on site for continued preliminary work on the athletic facilities project, which is scheduled to go to bids early next year.
• Approved the final readings and adoption of various model policies from the Minnesota School Board Association.
• Accepted donations, including $400 from the Town of Morse for community education, and $20,000 from the Ely Events Group for improvements to Washington Auditorium.
