By Tim Engstrom, Managing Editor

The average taxpayer will show a slight decrease in school tax in 2007 because of expansion to the tax base in the Albert Lea School District, according to district finance director Larry Kellogg.

The Albert Lea school board certified its 2007 tax levy Monday. Every year the school board certifies its tax levy and sends the information to the county government.

The Albert Lea School District certified it will collect $5.4 million in local property taxes in 2007. That includes $2.7 million for voter-approved debt services on Albert Lea High School and $1.1 million from a voter-approved tax levy.

The $5.4 million is up from $5.3 million this year. Even though the amount collected goes up, the average taxpayer will pay less because of increases in valuation and local growth in business and industry.

The $5.4 million certified levy is only a slice of the Albert Lea School District&8217;s revenue. It gets most of its funding from state coffers. The fiscal year runs from July to June. The district&8217;s 2005-&8217;06 fiscal year budget was about $38 million. Like any school district, most of it is for salaries. The general fund revenues came to about $31.5 million. The general fund expenditures came to about $31.6 million. There was a deficit of about $60,000.

The general fund budgeted expenses for 2006-&8217;07 are $32.7 million. The projected revenue for the general fund is $32.6 million, with a $109,000 deficit. The deficits will continue to grow under the current Minnesota school funding formula.

It was a short meeting. In other business, the board:

Heard a report on Smart Boards

from Sibley Elementary School first-grade teacher Peggy Bennett.

Chalkboards were replaced by whiteboards. Smart Boards are like an interactive whiteboard. At first glance, they look like a large computer monitor.

&8220;You could use this for a business presentation,&8221; Bennett said.

She said children today are &8220;preprogrammed&8221; to images and things moving quickly. She called the Smart Board &8220;an attention-getter.&8221;

Bennett showed how teachers use the interactive board to teach. For instance, the board displayed the words drill, grill and thrill. She touched a word on the screen and moved it to reveal the image that features a corresponding sound.

&8220;They can hear a drill, see a drill and it drills it into their brain,&8221; she said to laughter.

First-grader Jens Lange displayed his love of geography by pointing to the shape of Kenya, dragging it to the continent of Africa, then placing the shape on the outline of Kenya.

&8220;Kids and computers just connect,&8221; Bennett said.

Met for a workshop before the regular meeting. Kellogg pointed out how the existing voter-approved levy sunsets next year and said the school district will need to ask voters to replace that levy. How much it asks depends on what the state Legislature does in the 2007 legislative session, he said.

The district plans to implement about $1 million in cuts as a result of a failed levy last month. If voters reject the renewal of the levy next year, &8220;sizable&8221; reductions will be needed, he said.

The legislative session will set the school funding levels for the next two years.