Voters in the Custer School District will decide Tuesday whether to approve a three-year property tax opt-out to augment the district's general fund, which has been shrinking after the district lost 54 students last year.

Superintendent Tim Creal said even if the opt-out passes, taxpayers will not see an increase in their levied amount because assessed values of homes in the region have been increasing at a rate higher than inflation.

This means the owner of a home assessed at $100,000 would pay $21 more next year, but this would amount to $115 less in 2008 than in 2004 - that is if the home's value stayed steady during that period.

Creal said the money raised from the opt-out would cover the funds that would have been lost because of the drop in students, which amounts to more than $200,000 a year. The tax increase would only cover $150,000 a year.

Creal said the district has already made budget cuts in anticipation of this loss; items could be returned to the budget if voters approve the tax.

"We would have to decide what our needs are right away," he said. "We have cut some programs that the board would like to give consideration to put back in."

Next year, the state will give the district $4,529 per student, compared to last year's $4,365, a 3.8 percent increase. In May 2006, the district had a total of 976 students but is now down to 918.

Creal said that because of the timing of the election, if voters approve the opt-out, the district would still have to wait until January to see any of the money.

In order to get a pulse of the community's feelings on the topic, the district held two public forums, one in Hermosa and one in Custer. Creal said he was unable to gauge public sentiment from the forums.

"The people that attended those forums got a better understanding of why we are proposing this opt-out," he said. "At least they have better information to make a decision."

In 2004, the district approved the issue of certificates to pay for the construction of a new high school. Creal said this was done because a public vote wasn't to approval the project because the cost, $6.1 million, was less than 1.5 percent of the district's assessment. However, he knows public sentiment wasn't in favor of the building because two previous votes had turned down the construction proposal.

"There are people out there who didn't want the high school built, and they will be opposed to the opt-out," he said.

The money for the high school came from capital outlay funds, which can be used for construction but not for general expenses such as teachers' salaries.