"We're happy that we were able to do that for the taxpayers in Lodi," said Board of Education President Joe Licata.

The Lodi BOE dug into their surplus, not because they care about the taxpayers, but because two Licatas are up for re-election in 2015.  Last year, they increased their "Operating Budget” by $8,645,540 so they can build up their election year reserves.  There is nothing fiscally responsible about this election year gimmick.

And if they want to have a 1.5% decrease in the tax levy, they will have to go a little deeper into the “Licata election year reserves.”  

http://lodioverhaul.blogspot.com/2014/04/normal-0-false-false-false-en-us-x-none.html

Last year, the Lodi BOE adopted a budget with a “38.8 million dollar” tax levy .  

This year, they adopted a budget with a $38,878,553 tax levy.  They claim last year’s tax levy was $39,463,253.  They “revised” last year’s budget to make this year's look like a decrease.