CFO says SWCC levy to decrease

Southwestern levy rates are set to slightly decrease thanks to increased valuations in the past year.

SWCC Chief Financial Officer Brandi Shay met with the college’s board of trustees March 10 to go over the proposed FY27 budget. She said the proposed spending authority is $40.573 million, an almost $4 million increase from last year’s $36.23 million. This is due to the increase in valuation.

Shay said valuations increased 7.8%, moving from $4.28 billion to $4.615 billion. Because of this, the total proposed levy rate has decreased by .2% or $0.00298, moving from $1.07216 to $1.06918. Last year, the levy increased by 4.5%.

Before the board can approve the proposed budget, a public hearing must be held. A public hearing for the budget was approved to be held Tuesday, April 14 at 5:30 p.m. in the conference room at the Administration Center on campus.

In other SWCC news...

Board member Zach Gunsolley of Diagonal has resigned his position due to increased family commitments. Gunsolley has been a member of the board for 13 years, since 2013.

The board approved the purchase of a new shuttle bus for the college, with the amount not to exceed $225,000. The college received three bids, with the lowest being $214,846 from Haughland Bus. Co. Funds will come from Fund 3, auxiliary services.

A groundbreaking ceremony for the new trades building has been scheduled for Thursday, April 23 at 10 a.m at the construction site east of the Technical Center. In case of inclement weather, he ceremony will be moved inside to the welding lab area.

The board approved a contract with Madisyn Havermann for assistant volleyball coach for the remainder of the 2025-26 academic year. They also approved the resignation of Kori Zarzutzki as head women’s basketball coach, effective March 2. Zarzutzki has coached the women’s team the previous two seasons.