TRG

In March, members of the Greenwood and Loyal school boards decided to pay $6,000 per school district for Robert W. Baird and Company to conduct a consolidation financial feasibility study with the hopes of gaining an understanding of how combining the two school districts would impact the schools’ mill rate and overall financial situation. In the presentation, focus was put on the potential school levy, mill rate and budget impact of a consolidated school district and what that would look like in the first five years. After explaining the timeline of a consolidation scenario, (Elise) Murn explained the two biggest factors that would initially impact a consolidated Loyal-Greenwood school district. The first would be equalization aid. When a school district is consolidated, Murn said, for the first five years of the consolidated district’s existence, their aid is added together and set at a fixed rate, based on each district’s individual aid when they were last separate. The second impact caused by consolidation is a small amount of additional funding called consolidation incentive aid. Amounting to $150 per student, Murn said the consolidated district would see a very modest boost in funding as a result of consolidating. Both the Greenwood and Loyal boards are to hold discussion about the results of the study at their monthly November meetings.

Tribune-Phonograph

The Colby city council approved their final budget for 2025 and their local tax levy at their most recent monthly meeting last Monday. The local levy for general property taxes is an even $800,000, a 4.25 percent increase from the 2024 budgeted levy of $767,398. The city was still uncertain on how the recent reassessment of property values in the city would affect the tax situation in the future.

The Thorp Courier

Residents of Thorp will be seeing a change in the amount charged on their sewer utility rates and water usage effective January 1, 2025. The amended charges are a result of offsetting the costs of the city’s new multimillion-dollar wastewater treatment plant, which is operational and 95% online. Volume charges for residents will go from $5.40 per thousand to $9.92 per thousand. The average sewer rate will increase by about $25 per quarter for a new average of $60 per quarter.

St. Paul’s Lutheran Church has stood at its current location at 201 East Rusch Street in downtown Thorp since 1974. The congregation is closing on 130 years, but its distinctive orange carpet is no more. In its place is something far better and far more beautiful. The 50-year-old sanctuary has recently undergone some drastic renovations, seeing not only the removal of the orange theme but an entirely new floor plan for its pews and altar and cross.

Stanley Republican

At the recent Stanley Sportsmen’s Club Banquet, the family of Tom Thornton donated a gun in his memory to be raffled off with proceeds to be divided equally between the Stanley Sportsman’s Club and the Stanley Police Department’s K-9 unit. Due to a very successful banquet, the club decided to donate their share along with the Thornton family’s share with a sum of $2,000 to the Stanley Police Department’s K-9 Unit.

Ron Patten received checks for the Stanley and Boyd-Delmar-Edson Fire Departments Friday from Martino’s Restaurant. The fundraiser raised a total of $8,370, each department receiving $3,504.89 for needs after food costs were taken out.