Woodstock School District 200 is lowering its property tax levy.

Superintendent Mike Moan said in a recent district news release that the board opted to use fund balances to make two significant debt payments over the past two years, which prevented tax increases. Moan thanked the board for doing that.

“While schools have been affected by rising costs and inflation, sound financial planning has allowed the district to offer taxpayers a break,” Moan said in the release.

The district’s levy is about $70.75 million, which is a decrease of about $639,500 from last year.

“We’re very pleased to continue offering our students one of the best educations around while respecting the taxpayers of our community by keeping taxes low,” Moan said in the release. “The levy reduction is further evidence of that commitment to the taxpayers.”

Officials said in the release a homeowner with a $300,000 home would see an estimated decrease of $450 in the school district share of their property tax bill, assuming no increase in property value.

The school district also is lowering its tax rate for the 10th consecutive year, officials said.

An increase in equalized assessed value combined with new construction is driving the tax rate decrease, according to the release.

The tax rate was lowered to about 4.94% this year, down from about 5.45% last year, officials said.

District 200 is limited to increasing its property tax levy by the lesser of 5% or the consumer price index, a measure of inflation. This year’s CPI was 2.9%.