Peters schools seeking Act 1 exception for budget
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Peters Township School Board members agreed Tuesday to ask the Pennsylvania Department of Education for an exception – as required by Act 1 – to allow it to increase the real estate tax.
Peters Township School District is facing a $2.5 million budget shortfall for the 2015-16 school year. Officials said at previous finance meetings that the district was looking at increasing real estate taxes by 2.03 mills, which would bring the gap to $1.87 million.
The state has calculated the base index for the 2015-2016 fiscal year as 1.9 percent, which in Peters equates to an increase of 2.03 mills, said Shelly Belcher, a district spokeswoman.
The district’s anticipated budget for the next school year is $60.45 million, while revenue is anticipated to top out at $57.91 million. Seventy percent of the district’s revenue comes from local sources, and roughly 30 percent comes from the state.
Peters is facing mandatory and escalating costs such as special education, retirement contributions and employee contracts. In other words, the district’s hands are somewhat tied when it comes to significantly cutting its spending.
“Special education and larger pension contributions have increased substantially during the last two years,” said board member William Merrell, who chairs the board’s finance committee.
The state allows school districts to request tax-rate exceptions for specific items, such as special education, pensions and contracts, Belcher said. But to do so, the board needs to adopt a preliminary budget by Feb. 17.
Even if a preliminary budget is adopted next month, township residents will not see real estate tax increases for several months because the district’s current fiscal year continues through June 30.
The impact on township homeowners should be minimal. If a property owner’s school tax is $1,000, the amount would increase by $18.95 a year. The average annual household income in Peters is $152,000 a year, Merrell said.
In other matters, the board spent considerable time talking about several projects proposed and planned for McMurray Elementary School before agreeing to table plans so it can make sure the district will be reimbursed for some of the costs associated with the projects.