FREDERICKTOWN — Fredericktown school district residents this spring are being asked to approve a five-year, 4.8-mill property tax levy to pay for the day-to-day operating expenses of the district. The cost to property owners will be an additional $147 a year for each $100,000 of home value, or about 40 cents a day.

Superintendent Jim Peterson said the additional funding is necessary because the district is spending more than it takes in, even though it has reduced the budget by nearly $1 million in the past six years. Those cost reduction measures have included eliminating staff positions, not replacing staff members who retired or resigned, and a salary freeze for staff members. State funding, Peterson said, has decreased at the same time operating costs continue to rise and the state continues to mandate, but not pay for, programs such as all-day, everyday kindergarten.