Riverview School District taxpayers could see a 1.29% tax increase next school year under the district’s proposed budget.

The 0.3294-mill real estate tax hike for 2026-2027 would be used to close a $235,000 deficit between expenditures and revenue. The proposal projects $29,600,000 in revenues and expenditures.

Board member Jennifer Chaparro said keeping the district’s current millage would not be sustainable for the district.

The majority of the board agreed with the increase being the minimum needed to avoid cutting programs, staff and not closing the budget deficit.

“That’s not going to sustain us, regardless of renovations,” Chaparro said of keeping the current tax rate. “Teachers would be lost, services and other things would be lost at zero percent.”

A renovation project is scheduled for the junior, senior high school cafeteria in the summer. According to the proposed budget, about 71% of the district’s revenue is expected to come from local taxes including a little more than $17,500,000 in local taxes. Riverview is projected to spend more than 56%, or a little more than $16,700,000, of its budget on instruction and programs.

Sheila Lubert, the district’s director of finance and operations, recommended the district increase taxes up to the Act 1 index, which would’ve produced a 3.5% increase.

“It’s just a proposed budget. It’s just going out as a proposal,” board President Antonio Paris said. “It doesn’t need to be the final budget that we approve.”

The board will continue to discuss the budget at the June 1 agenda meeting at 7 p.m. in the Riverview Junior-Senior High School Library. A public hearing for the budget is scheduled for June 8 at 7 p.m. in the Riverview Junior-Senior High School Library. The budget will be adopted later that evening.

About the tax increase

This is what the tax raise would mean for a homeowner in Riverview School District with a median assessed property value of $155,500:

Current tax rate: 25.50 mills

Current tax bill: $3,965.25

Proposed tax rate: 25.8294 mills

Proposed tax bill: $4,016.47

Tax increase: $51.22

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