A presentation given by the Sizemore Group at a School Board work session last night projects that Decatur’s student enrollment will rise to almost 7,400 without annexation by 2020.

And while many here have worried that annexation could overwhelm the school system with students, the analysis presented to the School Board showed that a large majority of the growth in the next 5 years will come from inside the current city limits, even if student population in the annex areas nearly doubles in the next 5 years.

As such, without annexation the report anticipates CSD having to raise the millage rate a full point to 21.5 mills, and even that wouldn’t cover expenses in the aggressive enrollment projection scenario.  By annexing the areas in the City of Decatur’s Master Plan, the school system would anticipate more than 4 million dollars a year for the school system, which would keep it in the black thru 2020. (see slide 18).

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