This year’s significantly higher assessments for residential and commercial real estate will result in a 46-cent ceiling reduction for the tax rate levied by Marshall Public Schools.

The district’s board of education voted Tuesday, Aug. 26 to set the tax levy for the next year at the newly calculated ceiling of $3.3694 per $100 of assessed valuation. The rate is a net drop of 12 percent from last year’s $3.8280 figure. Supt. Caleb Petet says the reduced rate is in line with the state’s Hancock Amendment limiting the amount of additional revenue a polity can claim after increased assessments.

Petet says the move will have the potential to generate a net boost to district revenue. However, he says it’s difficult to predict if the increase will occur, as nearly 1800 homeowners in Saline County have applied for the senior tax credit, with Friday the final day for eligible residents age 62 and older to do so.

The updated tax rate is divided between $2.5078 in the incidental fund and the remaining $0.8616 into the capital projects fund.

Also during Tuesday night’s meeting, the Marshall School Board approved the purchase of a used van for food service distribution, at a cost of $59,900, and agreed to a restructuring of their school nurse positions. A registered nurse or nurse practitioner at one building will serve as the district’s head nurse, while the remaining buildings will fill future vacancies with nurse aides that report to the head nurse.