Costs of fuel, utilities and food are rising, but USD 363 Holcomb Superintendent Robert O'Connor said it's unlikely the school district will have to raise taxes by much to cover the expenses.

The USD 363 Board of Education will receive more details about the 2008-09 budget at its meeting Monday.

However, O'Connor said Friday he thinks that in his budget proposal, local taxpayers' contribution to the schools would increase by less than a mill -- if at all.

Holcomb residents currently contribute 39.105 mills to the school district, plus 4.029 mills to the Holcomb Recreation Commission that flow through the school district's budget.

The 43.134-mill total means that residents pay $1 per mill -- or about $43.13 -- per $1,000 in assessed valuation. The owner of a $100,000 home has an assessed valuation of $11,500 and would pay $496.04 a year.

The 2007-08 mill levy was down about a half-mill from the previous year, and O'Connor said if USD 363 can't hold the tax rate at that level, it might have to bump it up closer to the 2006-07 level.

In that year, taxpayers contributed 39.575 mills to the school district and 4.066 mills to the recreation commission.

The nearly steady tax rate comes at a time when he said the district has to beef up its budget line items significantly for expenses like gasoline, utilities and food, and when USD 363 still is trying to recoup some of the costs of damage from several storms in the 2007-08 school year. Most damage repairs were covered by insurance, but the storms also drove the board to approve district-funded expenses like replacement -- rather than repair -- of the track.

O'Connor said some revenue increases are helping the district cope with the costs, so that it doesn't have to turn to local taxpayers for more money.

The districts expects to see enrollment increases as a result of a transfer policy implemented almost a year ago that allows students living outside USD 363 boundaries to attend its schools. O'Connor said he expects the district will have about 30 transfer students in the coming school year, and each brings $4,433 from the state for 2008-09. Much of school districts' funding from the state comes on a per-pupil basis.

He said USD 363 also has seen a rise in its population of "at-risk" or low-income students, which also brings more state funding.

Despite the growing revenue sources, the budget O'Connor is expecting to propose to the board is "tighter than a fiddle string," he said.

"We don't have any room built into it," he said.

In other business, the board is scheduled to discuss the possibility of adding bowling to USD 363's activities for interscholastic competition.

Monday's meeting also will be the time for the board's annual reorganization, when officers are elected and the board reviews various policies and committee roles.