Jul 1, 2018 4 min read

Two Greene County school districts raised taxes for the upcoming year, while another district that previously expected to raise taxes said a healthy fund balance and money from the state allowed them to give taxpayers a break.

Carmichaels Area passed its budget at the regular school board meeting June 21 without a tax increase.

The district was originally looking at a 0.9-mill tax increase to offset its building projects and planned to raise taxes up to the index until it caught up with those expenses, said business manager Julie Mascia.

However, with a “healthy” fund balance and receiving state money to reimburse some of the construction projects, the district is currently in a relatively stable position. It was previously unclear when exactly Carmichaels would receive those PlanCon funds.

However, the district will be deficit spending this year and will need to dip into the fund balance. The district currently has about $4 million in its fund balance and expects to use about $800,000 of that in the coming year to offset the difference between revenue and expenses.

“The board wanted to give the taxpayers a reprieve,” Mascia said.

Superintendent John Menhart said that will need to be revisited next year.

“We’re on solid ground right now, but that changes year to year,” he added.

Continued deficit spending would deplete that fund balance the district is currently relying on, and the district doesn’t want to get backed into a financial corner.

Menhart, who spent 40 years at Carmichaels working in various roles, finished his last day as superintendent Friday.

Jefferson-Morgan passed its budget with a 7-2 vote at the June 18 board meeting, board President Mark Pochran said. The district is looking at $14.3 million budget, up from last year’s spending plan of $14.1 million.

The district’s tax rate will be 29 mills with the 0.92-mill increase. Superintendent Joseph Orr previously said the district felt good about maintaining that rate within the inflationary index and the district is trying to find creative ways to save money.

“All districts are looking at these types of measures to save money in the long run,” Orr said during the preliminary budgetary process.

Southeastern Greene voted on its budget May 23 without raising taxes, keeping the rate of 23 mills. Business manager Patrick Sweeney previously said expenditures had increased around $100,000, while revenue remained steady. The district is looking at an $11.4 million budget, according to its May meeting minutes.

West Greene adopted a $16.4 million budget Thursday in a 5-1 vote, with one abstention and two members absent, keeping the tax rate at 19.96 mills.

Expenditures were down from last year’s budget of $16.75 million. Part of the decrease resulted from staff retirements. Some of the positions opened due to retirements were not filled, while others that were went to new employees at lower pay levels, Superintendent Brian Jackson said.

The district lost about $300,000 in tax revenue as a result of coal depletion, coal that is mined and removed from the tax rolls. It did, however, receive a one-time boost in revenue when more than $1 million in 2015-16 taxes were paid from the Alpha Natural Resources bankruptcy, Jackson said.

The district is expecting further reductions in revenue from coal.

“We’re preparing for that, looking at staffing and our student population,” Jackson said. “We’re trying to be more fiscally prudent in how we do things, without affecting any of our educational programs.”

Central Greene passed its budget with a 5-4 vote June 19. The approved budget includes anticipated expenditures and revenues at almost $33 million and a tax increase of .8755 mills. The district’s total millage rate is now 29.1175 mills. The tax increase comes as the school board voted to furlough 23 teachers at its June 5 board meeting.