FARMER CITY -- The Blue Ridge School District will likely see a healthy 12 percent jump in its equalized assessment, which means the tax rate should stay down for at least another year.

But with an uncertain state funding forecast, a finance committee will recommend possible cuts if needed.

The district's amount of taxable property is expected to jump around $13 million, to $115 million, mostly due to the expansion of Monsanto Seed plant.

The district agreed to a five-year, 50 percent abatement of taxes with the firm, which Superintendent Jay Harnack said "couldn't have happened at a better time" due to the state financial picture.

Without a rebate, local funding would have seen a higher increase and the state would've dropped its share. The state already is behind on its payments.

The increase means the district is asking for a levy of $5,535,000, a 13.8 percent increase over the $4,850,100 approved in 2008.

But since that amount is spread over a larger assessed valuation, Harnack felt the overall tax rate would remain close to the current $5.26.

Outside of finances, high school Principal John Lawrence said the district is doing well academically and pointed to the 22.7 average ACT score posted last year, well above the state average of 20.8.