May 31, 2016 3 min read

WAYNESBURG – Central Greene School Board approved a $32.9 million tentative 2016-17 budget Tuesday, a spending plan that calls for a 1.2885-mill increase in property taxes.

The budget, if adopted as is, will increase the district’s tax rate to 27.3929 mills. With the rate increase, a person whose property is assessed at $50,000 will pay an additional $64 in taxes this year.

Most of the need for the proposed tax increase was attributed by administrators to the possible loss of $3.4 million in tax revenue owed for the 2015-16 fiscal year by bankrupt Alpha Natural Resources.

Superintendent Brian Uplinger said the district didn’t know if the district might receive the money.

“We’re hoping we’ll get it soon,” he said.

But when asked if the payment would eventually be made, he responded, “We’re not 100 percent sure.”

The board was faced with cutting about $1.4 million in spending from a preliminary budget it approved in January.

At a budget meeting last week, Uplinger shared with the board a list of possible cuts that included eliminating assistant coaches and six teaching and three janitorial positions.

Uplinger wouldn’t say Tuesday whether any of those reductions are included in the tentative budget.

“We’re taking a look at different things, but everything is fluid right now,” he said. “Nothing is off the table.”

In light of the district’s financial situation, the board asked auditor Steve Cypher to conduct a financial analysis of the district. He presented his report prior to the board considering the budget.

Looking at finances from April 30, 2015 through June 30, 2016, Cypher projected a deficit of $3,052,000, which he attributed to a shortfall in revenue.

In regards to the Alpha bankruptcy, Cypher said, bankruptcy proceedings move very slowly, like “the speed of molasses on a cold day.”

He advised the board to be “very cautious” in budgeting revenue for the 2016-17 year.

The tentative budget was approved on a 6-3 vote, with board members John Bristor, Sarah Hughes and Rachael Shultz voting against it. Board member Bridget Montgomery said she would vote for the budget only with the understanding more work will be done on it prior to its adoption next month.

Board chairman Andrew Corfont announced the board will be pulling together a group to provide impact on the budget.

He said he would like to see the group include representatives of the board, administration, the public, teachers union and support staff union. He asked anyone wishing to participate contact him, noting his email address is on the district’s web site.

To help balance the budget, the district will rely on $500,000 from its debt service fund and $591,939 from its fund balance, district business manager James Shargots said. He said the district’s projected fund balance for the 2015-16 school year is about $2.35 million.

The tax increase will bring in about an additional $760,000, Shargots said.

The district also faces other proposed increases in spending, including a nearly 5 percent increase in retirement costs and 6 percent increase in health care costs, he said. Shargots said he expects state funding will remain about the same as for the current fiscal year.

The budget is about $382, 000 less than the current year’s budget.

The board is negotiating new contracts with the teachers’ union and union representing support staff. The meeting was held in the Margaret Bell Miller Middle School auditorium to accommodate a large number of employees who attended the meeting. None spoke during the public comment period.